Make sure you get proper proof that the animal is a legitimate support animal (i.e. get a verified letter from the psychologist/psychiatrist, call the office of the psychologist/psychiatrist, etc.).Hope this helps! 

@Tevin RussellYou are verifying equity in the property before you waste your time trying to call them right?

Be careful here, not to get in a hurry, make sure you can verify their story (hard to do). 

But can you actually verify/confirm the # of houses any real estate agent claims to have sold in the last month, year, or lifetime?

Do make sure you verify all of that.

Have you done a rent survey of competing area properties to verify that.I would also caution you against the 100% financing unless you have a bunch of reserves to handle potential issues.

6) If I understand right, much of the wiping out of other potential claims depends on the county having issued the proper notices to the proper people at the proper places and proper times... is there any way to verify when/how/to whom that was done?

In regards to bridging the gap, it's completely legal as long as everything is disclosed properly (note, it's been a while since I've had to do that, so the rules may have changed - verify with the lender).

Have you looked to see what the terms of the lease are and are you allow to use a home inspector to verify any immediate repairs?  

If you wanted specific tile set in a specific way you should have verified he had the correct tile before he started setting it, and should have laid out a sample the way you wanted.