It is our job to analyze the market and take advantage of the best opportunities that it presents......if you lock yourself into one type of investment (buy and hold, lets say), then you do yourself a disservice by also locking yourself into a specific geographic region that doesn't necessarily present the proper conditions for that type of investment to thrive.

If you do your homework, research, and preparation properly, in general, what percentage of the time do you a.

After coming to an agreement with the LOI, what specific terms should I include in the seller financing to ensure I am protected properly?

Some States require that to be professionally mitigated and if not, You can be held liable for years after you sell it if not done properly- Plus you will have to disclose you had mold and how you mitigated it.My humble opinion- Walk away with the spread you are currently getting.

IT might have been better to dig deep and pay the vendor now and save your headache and renter frustration and relax over the next decade, with proper maintenance of course.

Proper notice to quit or pay gets attention most of the time.  

My questions is do I submit a an offer planning to pay all the fines myself (much lower than the current asking price) or do I submit an offer contingent upon Fannie Mae paying the fines current so that I'm only responsible to pay the ongoing fines until the work is completed with the proper permits. 

In the beginning you might be cheaper but will have growing pains as you expand and will not be able to scale and maintain that little profit margin model.Personally I think many buyers overpay for investment properties and then blame the PM when they did not properly account for that expense going in.

 @Eric Fernwood:I definitely agree, this sounds like it require a proper cpa/lawyer opinion.

Sounds fishy and sounds like they don't have proper documentation for what you are claiming.