The would be buyer made ridiculous demands and essentially used a few minor issues on inspection report to terminate.

I wonder if the issue is the loan is less than 100k.

Definitely save your battles for more expensive issues.    -- Good Luck!

If you have a cat that pees or sprays, understand that even if LVP is waterproof, it can seep through where planks connect or edges/trim to reach to the subfloor or slab, causing major odor issues. 

I'll add those areas to the watchlist.As a new immigrant, I am concerned about how quickly you can build your credit score to talk to lenders.

Complicating this issue is the need to do a 10-31 due to stepped up value/capital gains tax on half of the land.  

Probably not an issue for seller financing, but make sure there are no prepayment penalties.You can calculate payment and balloon amount easily enough with excel or google sheets.

Also discuss with the contractor the time expected for the project if its small, mid or large and if it needs permits and how long would it take for permitting and all, also payment terms, make sure you go with payment terms that are fair to you and the contractor (so many terms but most common is monthly based on completed work with an upfront for materials) and ALWAYS keep the last payment until project is closed (retainage) and you do your walkthrough and if there's any issues you write them down and provide the contractor with (punch list to release the retainer once they're corrected or fixed). read about how to deal with contractors and always ask for references but it really depends on how big the job is, personally I wouldn't spend too much time doing due diligence on small jobs such as door latches or shelving rather on additions, layout change and other scopes.Good luck!

I would hate for this to be an issue.2.

You're right about the smoke issue but I think it is a given here in Japan.How about it Leo Mervin Atanacio?