They will find you the best market rate.Keep in mind unless you are purchasing million dollar properties the difference may be  negligible

Landbanks are more or less where municipalities go in and take properties from negligent/bad landlords who leave properties un-kept for years, take them , mow the grass and re-sell them to people who will take care of them, otherwise they get torn down. 

I'd hate to end up losing the case for some negligence on my part.Is there a certain dollar amount when it becomes worth it to sue the tenant?

No, typically your liability insurance would typically not cover damage done due to negligence of those you hire.  

Some people may look organized, collected & wholesome on social media, but behind closed doors they may be messy, negligent & not a great candidate.

If they have E&O insurance AND your can prove either negligence or fraud you might have a case.

With a HELOC, you have no extra expense (some HELOC has annual fees, but they are low - like $100 - $200 at most which is negligible) unless you actually pull the cash out.  

I guess someone is negligent, maybe the PM, but if they built the charges into future HOA fees, it would be too late, the utility gave us 30 days to pay up before cutoff. 

The cost to do so is negligible over the long run even if you are flying, and if you can drive it's even less.  

Parking the money in a savings account will produce a negligible return.