You can easily look them up on https://nmlsconsumeraccess.org/If they are a commercial lender, you may want to check for google reviews

A national buyer would review the BPO and maybe do some brief online research, but would not typically not know, as in your example, about the sewage issues or extent of interior rehab needed.

I understand the safest option is to have a lawyer review the lease, but I figured I'd try to answer my beginner questions here and not waste the lawyers time (and my money) on the "for dummies" explanation.Thank you!

You will want to consult with a lawyer.In regards to your last two questions here's some background on what makes a contract valid and enforceable:Offer: A promise to do or not do something within a certain time period Acceptance: A clear and direct statement that all terms and responsibilities are accepted Consideration: A legal and adequate inducement given in exchange for the promise Capacity: The parties to the contract must have the legal capacity and competency to contract Awareness: A party must be aware of the contract Legality: The contract must be legal in the jurisdiction it will be operating in***Not legal advice*** Steps I would take: -Review contract in detail to understand each counterparties responsibilities (if you are not aware)- Email a copy of the lease to each of the tenants listed on the lease and reiterate lease expectations for termination notice, rent payment etc. - If the lease was signed via Docusign (other esign may have same ability) - you can go to the envelope, go to history and view the IP addresses for each action taken.

This spreadsheet was reviewed by our RE agent and his input was used on costs in that market.  

As others have stated, you'll always encounter issues, problems, and complaints (negative reviews) from all sides tenants, landlords, and vendors.The bottom line?

Don't give up the pursuit.Fail fast works better in software than in real estate: reset the server, push a patch, etc. 

The bill is due to be reviewed on Feb 13th.

This puts the current market rents of $885–$925 per unit well within the affordable range, with room for modest increases post-renovation.I’ve also reviewed competing properties in the area; apartments seem to be listed between 975 -1000, and houses are listed between 1300-1900.

It's a fairly unregulated space (charging grandma $750 to puts around for 3 hours, after moving the old box from the horizontal sensor, which was the only problem with the garage door to begin with), so some combination of carefully reading reviews (you have to actually read them to make sure it's not 200 fake reviews), and maybe not giving them the full contract all at once, is in order.