But, I think you have burned your bridge there.You need to figure out a way to get out of this that will cost you less than the $500 earnest money. 

Both were permitted but I was told if one of the units burned down I would not be allowed to build another home because of the zoning.  

So I actually make a extra profit by having single meter, and without the cost to separate.Tenants who have been burned by high fuel bills in a poorly insulated home flock to my ads.Yes, there is that occasional person who can't understand why my rent is higher but I probably don't want that tenant anyhow.I will by single metered all day and twice on Sunday.Fire at will.

I have had buddies get burned by spouses when relationships went south.

They don't know what they are doing and they mostly burn out and give up pretty fast.So while there are a lot of craptastic wholesalers out there there are MANY more crappy agents (Since there are probably 2 orders of magnitude more agents in any given area than wannabe wholesalers).  

If your painter is using a heat gun to strip wallpaper and heats the paint to 1100 degrees... your building will burn down before his brain can swell.

We want nobody to feel they are receiving unwanted solicitations. 

I kind of prefer the idea of cheap "burn phone" type prepaid mobiles. 

Sometimes you can get burned bad with incontinent cats or one cute little puppy that turns into repetitive cycles of pit bull litters.  

I have seen properties around me that are burned out.