Or can I hang onto it until (a) his lease officially ends; or (b) until I find a new tenant?  

Oregon Coast now officially too.

When the California legislature passed tougher anti-crime laws in the 2000s, the legislators knew they wouldn't work (based on Justice Department statistics), but elected officials have to do what the voters want if they want to keep their jobs (assuming the Supreme Court is OK with the legislation).I believe each person is an individual and should be treated as such.

As both an investor and realtor, I am now officially emotionally invested in the outcome!

I’ve been looking forward to these changes since they started working on them and even lobbied some of the council members.

A week before the original tenants official move out date was scheduled they informed me that they were “dropped” by the lender and they are starting to work with a new lender.

Work with the local experts- talk with local zoning officials, engage architects, and reach out to contractors to understand the cost and feasibility of your project.Run your numbers- do some forecasting and layout some financial models to project costs, revenues, and returns.Make sure you are utilizing your team- aforementioned real estate broker, financial advisor/ CPA, and lawyer and others as you go.Best wishes and good luck.

It's quite common and beneficial to the builder to sell homes before they are officially completed.

Anything that is almost guaranteed to be used daily in your rentals (i.e. couches, bed, chairs), I'd try to invest in as much quality as you can for those specific items.Some store sites will let you filter for "contract grade" or "commercial grade" items - these are the sorts of furnishing that get put into higher-use commercial applications such as hotel lobbies, apartment building amenity spaces, etc. 

And I have issued Steve an official warning notice.