I own about $4m in additional real estate which did come into play during the application process.

I myself dont own any properties so my experience is limited but sounds like a good deal to me.

Fire damage is not only limited to things you can physically see; it's also things you can't see.

You have rental criteria for a reason and these applicants don’t meet them...one of them has an eviction. 

If you buy a multi family, 50-70% of the expected or current unit rent from the other unit can go straight towards your PITI.I liked room rental at the edge of my theoretical borrowing limits because it got me into a really nice neighborhood.

When purchasing property with a lease option and the intention of creating a sandwich lease option, or purchasing "Subject To" and agreeing to make the owners mortgage payments in both scenarios, would limited durable power of attorney get around the "Due on sale" clause and make a future closing easier?

Canceling the contract without proper justification (those reasons should be spelled out in the contract) will get you sued for "specific performance" and/or "fraud in the inducement" and the seller may well look for consequential damages.Proper justification for canceling the contract is normally limited to home inspection and mortgage approval. 

You don't want to wait until the last minute because that will limit your options.

The city limits of Katy is pretty small with about 15,000 residents, but the area referred to as Katy has an estimated 300,000 residents. 

Now that I've got someone to screen, the landlord's process is to submit their rental application to a third-party screening service (applicant pays me the $30 fee to pass onto them), and if they're approved, the landlord informally OKs it without signing a lease or accepting rent payments from the new tenants.