Again, if he wants to continue to live there and in the absence of the gas service then he's demonstrating that the unit IS habitable and while he can ask for whatever he wants (and may get something) he's not entitled to it per CA law/code for something that isn't habitable.

It'll give the agent an opportunity to demonstrate what they know about the market and shows you are open to differing opinions.One final consideration is how scarce are $135k homes in the area?

They have to demonstrate the desire for change though.

That money we could probably just borrow and pay back through family trust but my question is,does it make sense, even though not needing to make it an official legal loan, should we have the loan legally drawn up by an attorney with an interest rate and amortization schedule in order to establish a private loan history for the purpose of demonstrating to future private lenders who are not family members that we met loan obligations?

However, your last message demonstrates that you are still being too lenient by allowing the cat without charging them the fee.

I am not claiming it is an easy problem, but demonstrating a moderate level of understanding of the impacts and nuances would be nice.  

In California, which is where the OP property is located the law states "In order to assert a claim of adverse possession in California, the claimant (party seeking to gain title to the property) must demonstrate: ... adverseand hostile possession; continuous possessionfor a period of five years; and. payment of all taxes assessed against the property during the five-year period."

This is fantastic - I think that this example demonstrates the amazing power of strategically deploying tax deferred retirement plans.  

I agree that some products are difficult to demonstrate the cost/benefit analysis without some discussion, but the vast majority of anything worthwhile should be able to be stated as "For $X and X weeks, I will teach you the specific knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to successfully find, negotiate, and close on your first single-family rental property." 

How do I show (formally) my cash reserves indicating that they will be available at the end of escrow, and still demonstrate that I am strong buyer.