Writing a good demand letter that will motivate a current or past tenant to pay up is an art.Collection agencies can help in some cases, but I've learned if the judgement is not in the thousands they won't put many resources into it and the chances of their collecting from someone who doesn't care about their credit is minimal.

Maybe you can negotiate parts of that wording to minimize what you are giving up.If you are on a closing for a time sensitive issue you might just let this go in favor of your other benefits.No legal advice.

My perspective on leverage, since I am in the business of leverage (broker/mortgage originator) is if I can reasonably control the down side and maximize the upside with the terms/rate/cost at which I am borrowing at, such as using a fixed 30 year, limited or no prepays, lower margins, non recourse, caps on adjustment periods, risk/equity share, etc I am okay with leveraging near maximum.For me it comes down to terms and cash flow as long as the risks can be minimized and the cash flow profit spread is high enough and stable enough even with stress tests (market drops rents go down XX%, business income goes down XX% or my personal income goes down XX% can I still debt service?)

Is there a way that I am able to get out of this contract with minimal cost if the 30 days to fulfill the contract passes (i.e. the contract expires on time), or am I still required to buy the property?

With Fannie Mae if uninhabitable you can delay paying mortgage for up to six months.

If you do not plan on being a career agent, go with a small broker with minimal fees. 

Interest rates are low by historical standards, and we have had a whole generation of people remain as renters (delay household formation) for much longer than similar age-group people have done in the past.

I advise that you have a few months worth of the mortgage payment put into savings before buying, so that you can cover the payments if there are any delays in getting a renter moved in.

I am out the $800 he stole, plus another $480 he probably stole but I can't prove it, plus $600 for an investigator, plus a two week delay on finishing one of my fix and flips to deal with personnel issues related to this whole thing.

Yes, Realtor.com gets it's info from the MLS, and yes there may be a time delay of a day or two.