Before entering under contract, we made the mistake of conceding to place a $5k "holding" deposit, with a notarized, basic contract which guaranteed us the exclusive rights to purchase until contracts were settled. 

When they ask my son where he is really from, they begrudgingly concede after he answers that he was born in California.

When you confirm that you dont , with intent, do anything illegal in any sense no matter how small it may be then I will concede that my "Holier than thou" comment doesn't apply to you.They are bandit signs for chrissake...not kilo's of cocaine.

I am a city guy and don't want to move far; will I really need to concede that privilege?

And you STILL came out ahead, it probably did indeed double in value.At some point we must concede that it's not "luck," the dice in the SF Bay Area are quite loaded, and they are loaded in favor of property owners.

I had one additional interaction with the PO but he ended up conceding that the house was legally sold at auction and that he has no right be be there. 

However, if you and your wife have to compromise, fight tooth and nail but concede the disposal, not the icemaker....

The reason for the $ amount is that if you had to gut a bathroom you could figure minimum of 5,000$ to rebuild, seeing as this is only the bath/shower but will share a bedroom or hallway wall, you may have work to perform in more than one room which essentially could amount to half a bathroom remodel.Trust me, I've been there done that enough times already.......If seller won't concede funds, suck it up and consider it on the job training you just paid for.Hope this helps - good luck!!

After further insisting that was the service and price I signed up for, she conceded that she could give me service at that rate.

I will concede one thing: this is the one variant of this scheme that doesn't violate principles of algebra.