My $10k example was admittedly unrealistic.However, by way of further background, @Dustin Heiner wrote an excellent article on this topic on his website masterpassiveincome.com titled "What to Do When A Buyer Backs Out From An Assignment Of Contract".In it he suggests a scenario where the assignee decides not to proceed, perhaps after discovering a big ticket repair item that would cost significantly more than the portion of the assignment fee held in escrow. 

It is a huge ticket item and can eat ~30-40% of my reno budget.Today I did a walk through with plumbers and contractors.

We put in a trouble ticket and had it done in a week or so.

An investor is probably coming in to understand if there are any big-ticket items they didn't see when they looked at the house that might change their rehab estimate.

Doing a deep dive into support tickets, around 40% were wifi related. 

Proper identification of tenants isalso needed if you want any chance of having local code enforcement write tickets against the tenant and not the owner.5.

We're now looking to take out conventional financing based on the equity we have to do a few things - pay off our existing private loan, fund some larger ticket renovation items (i.e.

Take the money and buy a plane ticket and go look at where your money is going.

I would reccommend protecting yourself in terms of the legality of the transfer, ensuring there aren't any violations, 3rd parties requesting some claim of ownership of the property, most importantly the structural integrity of the property overall is sound and there aren't any big ticket items the current owner should righfully be taking care of that will then be additional issues you inherit. 

@John Su tenants typically take care of snow when occupied, but owner is responsible when vacant - and some cities write tickets if snow not removed with x hours.In colder climates you also have to worry about keeping heat on when vacant so pipes don't freeze.