And I totally agree, providing the best value is key and I know that's what would eventually "win" the deal for me at the end of the day.

I have a handyman but he is 80 years old and only works for me at this point.

Wouldn’t call it a red flag. 

I definitely ended up passing on this "deal" based on the red flags.

In the recent election, over 50 counties flipped RED.

@Natalia Perlova if the switch is in a common area and you are having trouble with the tenant especially if you think they switched the burner off deliberately (it should be a bright red switch plate in our area labeled oil burner).

Red Snapper, grouper, barracuda for USD $4 per pound. 

The red flag here for me would be the willingness to overpay when they’re not bidding against anyone.

Even you got hung up on the HELOC red herring.

You can only play games for so long.Chances are your next door neighbor is an IRS agent and turns you in when your tenants blocks their drive or some other random event disturbing your IRS neighbor.ADU catches fire and your insurance won't cover you, because it was an illegal and unpermitted structure.The city inspector told the last guy not to build or rent it, and is now pissed and wants to make an example of you and just red tags the whole property and no one can occupy for the next 1-2-3 years while you wait for a hearing.Then when you get the hearing, "staff" recommends you tear the whole structure down, and if you still want an ADU, you can apply for a permit and rebuild it.Your tenant quits paying rent and won't move out and you can't evict them, because there is no valid lease and they're just your "roommate".Probably a dozen other bad things can happen to you when you do stuff like this.