Be very clear that they must transfer the deposit along with a complete set of tenant records (application, lease, payment ledger, etc.). 

You can not comp using houses with above grade GLA that match your square footage if a portion of your sqft is below grade.

Fast forward to April 2024: I canceled the contract with KS Yoak and tried to get the security deposit, but they sent it to the wrong address.

The challenge is that the property only has a one-hour open house the day before the auction.Here are the details:•Opening bid: $100K•Hard money lender financing: Up to $220K (with my 20% deposit and 100% renovation costs covered)•Comps in the area: $485K–$510K•Estimated rehab (based on pictures): $125KObviously, this estimate could change significantly once I see the property.

They're all good answers that matched the "it depends" mentality that I was expecting.

For Guarantee I think in the way David your thinking about Guarantee the only one out there is FDIC insured deposits with the full faith and credit of the US Gov. 

Option Fee, Security Deposit, etc) can you do it with no money out of pocket?

We certainly have some problems with damage, but rarely goes over the deposit amount.

Consider all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

I can have separate bank accounts, debit cards, security deposit accounts etc. and now with new features like automatic recurring transfers things are even easier and time efficient