These are things I don't believe the old landlord would have left unattended before renting the unit out to her, like cracked/loose countertops and broken closet doors.  

Within the bounds of the law, they are free to develop any lending criteria they chose that presumably meets the needs of their marketplace.

What happens if they don't pay their mortgage for whatever reason....like they die or loose their job.As the folks chime in that are either in Florida or know Florida transactions well, it may help them to better answer your questions by telling us if it is investment property, 2nd home, or primary home for you. 

Limitations to 1-4 unit properties can slow things down a bit too if an investor is ready to up the ante.Of course, there are a rare portfolio/commercial lenders that run 30 year fixed rates, don't cap you on # of loans or DTI, run recklessly loose debt coverage calculations (i'm not complaining lol), and will be more likely to appraise at ARV even though they've seen your recent purchase at a much lower price.

We’re bound by a lot of different laws and Code of Ethics others aren’t restricted by.

I have had people give me houses because they were about to loose them anyway.

However there is a loophole in the guidelines that allows you to treat a property for a college-bound kid as a primary residence for lending purposes. 

You're bound to have a similar experience when turnover time approaches.

The venue of the sale determines jurisdiction - which is a lawyerly way of saying that you're bound by the laws of the state the property is in.

Thinking that the Market is topping is normal but you may loose a few years of upside, listen to show 98 about a guy that stopped doing deals by the year 2000 because the market was too hot!