I also found some apparently nice leases  specific for my state  for free just by googling. 

  $1,000 (a nice round number) is totally junk.

My goal is to have a nice place to life for a while that we will fix up and maybe sell for a profit 5 in a few years due to equity created in rehab.

I have to say it's been nice not paying the crazy rent prices I'm sure you're paying.  

We focus on renovating houses in those areas, and granted our houses come out really, really nice, but haven't had any issues at all renting them out!  

All are very nice.

YOU still have to give proper notice,, NO way can you do this the way your thinking,,Download your state landlord tenant laws so you can operate this business properly,Get a copy of their current lease,, IS there a clause that says,, it will automatically revert to a month to month term if not renewed for a longer period..IF so your fine,, you'll just give them notice of lease terms changes the next month,, they don't need to vacate if you want to keep them,, you can give them a heads up what the terms will be, you can suggest it would be nice to start off with a new lease, but understand they have a month to accept that new lease or give proper notice to vacate..It's not that it can't be done,, it has to be done the proper way..

I would contact the appraiser and aside from voicing your argument I would send him three better, more suitable comps that illustrate three properties in areas as nice as yours that have a garage, etc and layout similar to what you have.

I know I need to give a bigger weight to OPM while getting started, and likely will as I get closer to my first residential deal.

However I had inspections done because of "nice" tenants that reported to L&I