Anything above that and I have to contact the owner for permission.

Do I need tenant permission to visit the property?

If not, you can paint yourself, with permission in the contract, prior to the appraisal.  

And once this kind of behavior goes in, the right and most humane thing to do is make it very clear to the tenant in a lasting way that this sort of behavior is not permissible from adults in our society who have signed a contract with each other, because it isn't.Yes MA is a tenant-friendly state.

You need permission up front to do this and clearly they are not going to give it to you now. 

In that case give the PM permission to push back on their abuse of the maintenance request system.

Once the contingency/inspection  time frame is completed and everything is agreed upon  the buyer has NO right to enter the house unless the seller gives them permission.  

Some answer over the phone, some ask you to fill out a form, some ask to see that we have proper permission to be asking, some use a 3rd party service. 

Usually this requires permission from the lender (if they allow it at all). 

Get permission from the owner/listing agent in writing to see if they will let you market the property to your investor list.