I originally decided to self-service this loan but will take Mike's and your advice and move this over to a collector before anything.  

Check with your agent but here are a few items that should be placed in the special stipulations portion of your contract (special stips will often control over conflicting stips in the contract which is why you want to put them here):- Due diligence starts when the Seller delivers to the Buyer the bank approval letter- Earnest money is due within X number of days from the time the Seller delivers the bank approval letter (BAL) to the Buyer- Closing shall take place within 30 days of the Buyer receiving the BAL- Buyer may, at Buyers sole discretion, terminate this contract if the sale of the property is not approved by the Sellers lender within 90 days of the Binding Agreement Date. 

I know what rent cost on the peninsula. when my daughter first went to work for Intel she paid 2800 a month for 2bd apartment in Whisky Gulch  PA.If anyone who is actually building would like to swap hard cards we could go through line items and see why we can build custom for 110 to 120 a foot and your paying 300 a foot.Not sure what permits are on the peninsula on the Spec in Lake Oswego that I show Minh when he was here I paid right at 40k for building permits and all SDC's..

I wouldn’t distinguish this from anything else like inspection items used as a tactic to renegotiate.

Going forward, set the expectation up front along with a checklist of items to complete in order to get back the full depositHappy investing!

What is typical is that contractors will have an "allowance" for items.

Be sure to read through the Learn section above, and set some key word alerts for areas or items of interest like "Maryland" or "team"  Good luck.

However, this is a pretty contentious item on BP so take the recommendation with a grain of salt :)

Ask rehabers for a range of costs for various items like kitchens and baths.

In addition, please also include any items checkedbelow:1) 2011, 2012 and 2013 W-2's2) Please explain your employment, are you presently employed with both____ and ____ ?