If you have written your lease correctly then all your attorneys fees can legally be deducted from his deposit or you will get a court judgement that includes the rent plus attorneys fees.

You both are correct in that there was missing info, as the 401k holder is my fiance as she was the one that has recently switched companies.

Rachel, you are MobileHomeGurl, correct?!  

You will likely get a lot of high bids, but eventually you should come across someone that has a bid significantly lower than the average retail contractor and can show you examples of their work. 

@Jim T.Logan is correct in that you only report the state income tax refund if you received a benefit from deducting state and local taxes.Instances where you don't benefit 100% from deducting state and local taxesexample 1State and local taxes on Schedule A is $11,000(only itemized deduction)Standard deduction is $10,600You only received a benefit of deducting $400 of state and local taxes.

The sellers attorney is correct in that you are asking for a unicorn.

The seller never bothered to get a CAL (Commercial Activity License) or rental license, but has applied for one to verify the property is correctly zoned. 

The one tenant mentioned there are gaps for air flow, which they tried to correct on their own (prior to us owning). 

You definitely should be spending much energy on finding the correct tenants.

Realtors, Contractors, or anyone who has any advice on investor friendly title companies, the correct and legal contracts to use.