We previously decided to try the sell by owner method and elected a buyer in November 2017.

A yr later after saving and going back to work I decide Its time to buy another..

I understand the draw of front loading the payment schedule to make sure the home owner doesn't decide they ran out of money and can't pay you now, but 70% of the money when 40% of the work is done is way too much up front unless they're installing a ton of high end, special order cabinets and trim.

Seems like you're bringing you own personal opinion about rent as opposed to letting the fair market decide. 

In this scenario when you refinance do you go through the normal process of refinancing where a bank would look at your loan terms/house appraisal and decide if they want to take it on?

After 20 years I have decided laminate, hardwood, vinyl wood look, etc is far superior flooring for the money and ROI.

If you believe you need a lawyer to boot them in the butt you are try to hang on to tenants that will ultimately cost you money.Send notice, file eviction and then decide if you want to keep them or not otherwise you will be paying a lawyer to issue notices every month.

Go see distressed properties as soon as they're listed (first day or second), write down a list of what needs to be done, go home and run the numbers, and decide how much you'd offer. 

Now you just decided to not honor what you previously told them and are refusing to leave, and think they should just forgo the plans they had already made for the unit. 

For those I will have to spend lot's of time and my resources helping them along so I have to decide if I want to take that on and if they will make the commitment to me only.