If they made a mistake and you owe the money, I would pay it before you get your credit ruined with a judgement. 

Know my intent included no judgement.

That is even more true if you expect your handyman to be insured, carry workers comp, be reliable, bring all their own tools and exercise enough judgement to problem solve without having to call you for painfully specific questions. 

I plan to print off a retail value sheet for every appliance in hopes that it will help the appraiser make better judgement on the value of each appliance.

She had family issues we had to help her with, then judgement issues, then animal relocation issues.

If that is not possible, you can run an O&E report from a company like protitleusa which shows the owner, as well as any other liens or judgements.

I would seriously consider your judgement about the deals.

No judgement here.Being in the military there are many active duty who buy a home with VA and are deployed but its their home. 

They may have also run a title search and found additional liens/ judgements on the property that preclude them from a short sale as they would get wiped out in foreclosure

Switching lenders won't help you because I believe the appraisal belongs to the VA, and they have it on file regardless of which lender brokers the loan.Your agent doesn't sound to blame here whatsoever, as any good agent will have you defer to the judgement of a real expert of a particular issue - in this case, your lender.