Can we have them appraised by an independent appraiser to establish a value?

Possibly just a general liability policy.Example of insurance requirements from a sample Independant Contractor agreement I have for my REI clients,Schedule AWork to be performedThis Agreement shall cover the following projects at the following locations:________________________________________________________________________Insurance Limits Examples Workers Compensation (Statutory) and Employer’s Liability:$100,000 each accident for bodily injury by accident; $100,000 each employee for bodily injury by disease; $500,000 policy limit for bodily injury by disease.

From an independent local bank .... possibly.

For crime, look at the city's police department website and they'll tell you where they report crime statistics to.

I'm an avid follower of financial independence blogs, which then brought me to real estate investing.

Are they hiring an independent appraiser to verify value?

Most retail direct lenders / mortgage banks have minimum FICO scores of either 620 or 640.You will certainly want to be working with a wholesale independent mortgage broker for this one, to ensure that all the options available, are available to you.Note that when I was a banker, some 30% of my clients thought I was a broker, so when you say "broker" please ensure you actually mean that word. :)

Completely out of my ***, more or less, but with some local knowledge, I've done some independent contracting myself, lived in rentals that had a flood after winter and needed a new basement and the landlord shared numbers with me, have quite a few friends in the contracting business, but more or less it was a total guess. 

Getting ready to close on my first property, a duplex in northern independence.

I own a rental house in Independence Missouri.