we are in a bit shock that one of our nicest tenants (nicest person you could ever meet) committed suicide yesterday and not sure what to do.  

For the body to be blocking the door, and nobody else being in the bathroom, that tells me suicide.

A few days after the auction, the occupant filled the house with natural gas, lit a cigarette in an attempt to commit suicide, and blew the house to smithereens!

BUT if they didn't die of natural causes (murder or suicide) then you do have to disclose it, and you better believe that it will affect the resell value.As for your question George, yes, track down the next of kin and get a contract.

Whoever told you this must live in a land I don't know of.... financial suicide.

There really isn't any way around that and attempting to go to battle at an extreme disadvantage like being out of state with no on the ground network is financial suicide.

My Father committed suicide 3 years ago and I inherited a large farmhouse with a nice chunk of land and it is paid off in full so that is my housing/bills situation.

NA Beard, Not trying to be argumentative or difficult but any experienced contractor who would even think about taking on a project like this for anything other than T&M would be committing suicide and could easily go broke and/or get their arses sued off not to mention the damage it would do to their reputation and credibility.

But perhaps more importantly, since you insist on DIY......your title insurance co. didn't catch this, so I'm guessing you had no title search done.....that can be suicidal.....other than over due property taxes, there can be all kinds of issues you're not aware of.

During demo, our guys found a possum skull (without the rest of the body) and a suicide note.