Going to do short term rental as well. 

In terms of the permitting process, an architect that can self certified drawings would reduce the wait time to receive the permit. 

What is interesting is our held for sale are the longer term notes as we do not plan to hold them for 10+ years.

Long term Appreciation is likely to happen.  

Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.3.

She will allow seniors to move in with little or no money as long as I'm the agent listing their property.

Rental properties come in several flavors... short term, long term, etc.  

very sorry to hear that. a lot of "professional" unfortunately only look at you as a number and not a long term relationship. you should be able to put a complaint against home inspector to hopefully recover some damage they missed

Long story short, ended up buying the property after getting to know the owners who were cleaning up when I went over to ask them permission to cut down the leaning branches toward their roof.

Off-market deals give you control over pricing, terms, and creative financing options.