Or just wait until a year passes and he can rent it out  Following - I'm based in California in The Bay. 

This puts the home underwater.I've calculated the following two options: To sell the house, it would cost me about $60,000out of pocket.

And the cracks mostly follow the drywall seams from what I can see, which is typical....And as @Patricia Steiner said, it doesn't look like a pro installation....You could ask the Contr to use a flexible compound if this happens again, or maybe even now...https://www.dap.com/products-projects/product-categories/pat...Like everyone else said, I'd have it repaired - by a licensed Drywall Contr. - and then just check in on it.

@James Wise I began investing in Cleveland (from NY) this year, and I was following this grading guide for a while!

There are rules to follow!

Hello Doug, I am not a real estate attorney nor is this legal advice.Unless someone's state has specific laws banning contract assignments you should be fine doing the following.  

Quote from @Samuel Hudson: Hello friends I am new the market and recently bought a home in Weehawken 6 months backs .Its a three family home and we are currently doing renovations Right now.The rent leveling board told me that two units would have to follow a rent of 1650 for unit 1 which has three bedrooms and another unknown amount for unit 2 which they don’t have the information for .The previous seller I purchased the property from bought it as a tax lien .He has kept the property vacant for two years with no tenants before selling it to me .However ,the previous Owner he bought it from must have had tenants .I am putting in a lot of money into renovations and want some clarity on the situation I am in .The property has been vacant for the two years and currently still is as we are doing renovation .It would be really appreciated if anyone can assist me on what information needs to be provided by from the previous seller for me to be able to set the rent based on the market value .Thank you . 

To readily obtain the highest end tenant I desire, it’s imperative that my properties have the following characteristics1.

I am foreseeing a bit of a push back or even turned-off potentially decent tenants by the $50/pp screening fee, mostly for a family of 4 ($200 out of pocket).I was wondering if offering a credit of either 50% or the full 100% of the screening costs from the first or second month's rent is a good idea.Thought?

If there are items of value left behind, or even personal items of sentimental value, I will follow the abandonment rules to a "T" to avoid any legal issues.