@Caleb Brown So basically it comes down to how big of a risk I'm willing to take, there is no wise choice. 

You've already been introduced to @Basit Siddiqi who is a good choice to get started with and I can give you CPA names in Scottsdale that do high end investment planning if you want to PM me.

Now seeing as we wanted lakefront, our choices were limited due to our budget.

What kind of leverage you have if any in negotiations will generally depend on the quality of your site for their business type and what alternative choices do they have in the marketplace?

Does the house need cosmetics, or real work (plumbing/electrical/structural) . there are many choices for the cosmetics work, so you can get better pricing.

But I'm on the bad end of an extremely one-sided deal.He gives ZERO tenant improvement allowances and his attitude toward someone trying to get a mutually beneficial deal is currently: "If you don't like it, leave.

Your choice is to lose money from this unit, or pay for a better fix. 

Not sure if that is the reason for what you're seeing but then again, Redfin wouldn't be my choice to get that data.

Being it’s your first deal, I would personally take advantage of the leverage here and go with a low down payment, but the choice is yours.

Main question is if I do #4, is #1 redundant or still beneficial/necessary?