As there is only a one lane asphalt driveway that goes between the building and the east property line the contractor will have to operate his heavy equipment there and will hurt tenant access and definitely damage the asphalt.

Deposit will take all of other damages left. 

(I understand upon learning the per is an ESA or Service Animal, one cannot charge pet rent....but these are still animals and can cause damage to the property.

I will take on all the risk whilst always making sure the property is in a selling condition at all times and professionally cleaned and maintained, and if there's any damages my insurance would cover it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

I fared well luckily, did not sustain any damage personally.

When we removed some of the wall we found that there was damage to the wood.

@Catherine Emert - In Virginia too, and likely in every state, tenants are responsible for damage they cause, including a pest infestation.  

I have bought notes based on bank saving time legal fees and property damage during the foreclosure process, if you were buying residential paper I would look at the foreclosure timing first if it is like Wisconsin you can get the banks attention if it a very fast moving process like I am told florida is note purchass can be difficult

In fact if you don't do proper due diligence some are "traps" with bad layouts, fire damage, and tiny sized lots.