I'm having a hard time finding any that are knowledgeable outside of their normal transactions.

for example my building is brand new and it has all low flow valves and trim in the bathroom - this is normal..... 

Because tenants in good buildings don't want to lose their homes whereas tenants who have been treated poorly over the years certainly don't care about their sleazy landlord's financial problems and they don't care as much about getting evicted for a crappy apartment.Personally, I only had two more late payments than normal during the height of COVID.

So treat it just like a normal loan. 

Is this normal?

Normally, you should be living in the mfh for 1 yr because of loan terms... 

For the future > What do i normally do (had i not have him sign a lease) to make sure i don't loose this prospective tenant?

What @Steve Vaughan and his wife did is perfectly normal and actually streamlines things a little to shave some costs of extra work.

Jean,The normal policy for that situation is a Renovation Builders Risk policy. 

I think having enough funds and a good home inspection and contractor that you can trust is a much in the  beginning otherwise you are just gambling.