The best jobs I have seen is a roto-tiller to loosen the soil and a good leveling device or devices. 

You can lower the rent or loosen rules.

I was trying to change out the faucet and couldn't really get to the underside of the sink to loosen it, I decided to remove the sink to mount it, and the sink pulled right out of the way without much effort, when I didn't even remove the mounting hardware. 

Typically galvanized pipes rust badly if they sit winterized without water running through them regularly, that rust once you start changing fixtures and banging on old pipes loosens the rust build up and tends to clog the new fixtures.

It has a lot of inquiries, but I'm going to heed to the advice given, and loosen up my screening requirements. 

Here too, I would caution against loosening your requirements in order to "get the deal".

Any other suggestions as to how to loosen things up before my tentative first flush?

They do this to emphasize housing opportunities for veterans, instead of cash flow opportunities overall.Not sure if they've loosened the restrictions over the last few years.

You will find that using a heatgun will loosen up the seating around the pane which will make this a much easier job.

If it is a partial laminate, beware of dipping because the adhesive under the laminate will loosen up.