And for a seasoned developer to insist on cutting out the GC would be a red flag. 

You claim they are bad landlords, but you insist on staying.

Always insist on three estimates for larger projects.To Your Success!

The seller was insistent on using probable future revenue rather than previous performance, which was a difference of hundreds of thousands.

Insist that your contractors store all tools etc out of sight. 

If they insist on staying, then that indicates they aren't actually concerned.If they insist on testing, make them pay for it.

When I first reached out to Scott when all this first came out he insisted that all previous judgements had been satisfied and all investors had been paid back with interest.  

If they insist on taking you to court, get your documentation together, demonstrate the damages they caused, let the court know you offered a full refund, and hope the court has mercy on you and doesn't charge you the full three months.If you want to avoid problems like this in the future, I recommend you start educating yourself on how to follow the law and handle problems.

If you insist (perhaps) try a for a specific niche or theme maybe. who knows

I am just an average Joe trying to sell our house to investors (ski resort town three hours east of SF if anyone is interested) - I just wanted to check in and see: Is it common for an investor to insist on entering into a contract before they inspect (where they have 2 weeks to inspect and cancel if they don’t like what they see & if they do they will close within one month)?