He would show up, realize he didn't like the view of the water tower half a block away and back out.- Getting under contract and then reducing the price because of findings is common, but major reductions are likely to tick off the seller unless you have strong justification.

You might need a 2nd well if you're not on city water. 

That certificate would show open taxes, water, housing violations, citations, condemnations, receiverships, construction liens and other municipal liens.

If the security deposit is not going to cover the the water bill or damages, try to scare him into covering the balance by hinting at sending him to collections and it will appear on any future credit pulls he may have done.

I'm skeptical but I'm willing to test the water to something small first.

I estimate high of what the bill would be and put it on their lease, I have not had any issues this way and if the water bill goes up, I will increase on the next lease. 

I have yet to see code violations, water shut offs, and fire damaged properties. 

@Bijan SabbaghiYou don’t that’s the challenge - we pull data from several places as a note holder and for example and currently we see less than 20% actually going to foreclosure as most are ending in bankruptcy right now due to borrowers equityThe ones that are under water are typically going back to the bank.Best bet is to find properties where deceased or maybe divorced to get higher chance of actually going to foreclosure

Welcome to TN, the water is warm. 

You may need to lower the rent you are asking for by a bit, but it is way better to have a tenant using less water because they're the ones paying for it, than having them run the water for hours since they aren't the ones paying for it.