My initial reaction is to avoid them at all costs, but that's only bc I haven't educated myself enough yet.

This added 3 weeks to our timetable, and caused a chain reaction of delays.

My first reaction was to make and keep tenants happy. 

I guess part of me isn't scared of what the bank will say...it's what kind of reaction the listing agent will have when I say I want to offer 130k.

I like real estate for the opportunity that it provides.Some of my investor buyers for my listings have multiple stock accounts they pull from to purchase real estate.Personally I like real estate because it is a tangible asset.I don't like the idea of paper to be worth 100 one day and 10 cents the next.At least with a property barring and act of God or some other strange occurrance I will have a tangible asset to sell.I know some will say but if you bought at the height of the market you would be upside down on that tangible asset.I didn't buy anything back then.I saw many people laughing and making money refinancing and to be honest I did feel like maybe I was missing out.I waited on now I am so glad that I did because many of those same people laughing with joy are crying in pain.Stocks just like real estate is something that if you just dabble in it you can lose everything.The sexy part of stocks just like real estate is to make money quick but many more lose than win.The losers aren't talked about much but the few winners are pumped up to sell marketing and courses to extract money from the herds.For my honeymoon years ago we went to Tennessee.While there my wife had an adverse reaction I think to the make up used at the wedding (she has sensitive skin).So we went to a local doc.This guy was really nice but old in his late 80's.We started chatting up and he said it was just a reaction to something and gave her a shot.I talked about real estate.That's when he said him and his wife had put all of their retirement in Enron stock and had it for awhile then BOOM the bottom fell out and they lost everything.He had to come out of retirement and open a practice again in his late 80's to make ends meet.That scared the hell out of me and made me stay away from stocks.I might eventually buy a small amount for a long term hold but I am not into risk with stock market.I have seen too many people see big dollar signs with their eyes and lose their shirts.

But silly to be dishonest since its so easy to find out the truth.My gut reaction was different.

If those who are lurking on this and other real estate forums were to spend a reaction of the time that they do reading and posting here on actually talking to property owners, they'd learn so much more.  

Though their reaction will likely be the same (you're trying to steal 'their' house from them), it will at least give them the opportunity to stay where they are.Good luck!

My knee-jerk reaction is that it's a win-win for all parties, but I'm open to suggestions.Thanks in advance for your input.

My first reaction is to just charge the $500 deposit and return it when the dog is gone, and maybe if the dog isn't gone in a month make half of it non-refundable.