My questions are: 1) My county states that the surplus funds are the property of the owner of the property, which makes no sense to me.

Scott, the surplus of deals is a necessary stage in professional growth:Shortage of transactions.

For those that did not know, in Michigan if there was a tax sale the surplus was kept by the County.

There is no surplus proceeds to make a claim against.

The purchase price of the home may or may not be set before the actual sale, and the surplus amount that the potential buyer pays each month is credited as a down payment against her future purchase of the property.

Also, I would probably take $1600 rent at a minimum and charge a $40 monthly pet fee for the 2 "normal" pets, plus a $400 non-refundable pet fee, so the surplus would be more around $1800 if he stayed 4 months. 

I know there is a surplus of condos in brickell but townhomes seem to be rare and rarely available on the market.

There are many affordable refacing products available, however there is not a surplus a of experienced installers.

I would recommend reaching out to a local agent and asking for a quote from an excess & surplus carrier.

This could be a huge opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage of the windfall of inventory but who will be buying them and will there be enough buyers to avoid devaluation due to the surplus of inventory?