I’d like to be protected if it takes longer than 60 days to sell a spec.

Our offers include clauses allowing us to do our due diligence before closing and protect Earnest Money Deposit (EMD).

Akron is a very blue city and are not very landlord friendly - source of income protections, etc... 

This may be needed to protect you from claims later.4.

EXACTLY Darius its well known in those circles  this is why the state of PA is coming out with new laws that will clearly define how the lease option works and treat it more like a seller carry back with Dodd Frank protections.. 

You take out those utilities from the S8 voucher rent and the resulting NET rent is often BELOW market rents.Ask more questions to protect yourself from being taken advantage of. 

Translation: you helped your client to protect their cheating against the state assessment.I understand that your client, as a result, avoided paying $45k.

This is all not for the faint of heart but if you want to protect your money you need to get aggressive

Requiring occupant to have renters insurance is another possibility for extra protection.

Lenders that don’t require an appraisal will perform a desktop appraisal but will typically have a very conservative view on the value of the property to protect the company’s investment.