Seems excessive to me.

This seems to do the trick. 

Rents for each of the 3 bedroom apartments seem to be in the $3,000 rangeI’ve gotten to thinking.

Seems like you already have a good path forward, and flipping can still be profitable in today's market and into the future.

My contractor advised against doing LVT on the stairs (said it just always looks bad) so it seems like I’ll put carpet there (didn't want to do this but there's no hardwood underneath the current carpet).

The quoted section has nothing to do with collecting for damage done.The LL has the right to use a licensed plumber and charge what the licensed plumber charges even if that charge seems exorbitant.  

I'm also trying to get an answer on this, but seems like there are far more assumable commercial loans than there are residential, but from what I can tell, it's just a case by case sort of thing and you have to check within the loan docs or with the original lender to find out if it applies to a specific loan. 

The properties are currently about breaking even based on their first year as rentals, but the management company used seems to be leaving some on the table in my opinion. 

Due to the amount of liquidity you have, it's hard to recommend the SBL loan (or any additional leverage) without knowing your full financial picture since it does seem very risky.Now if you truly do have a home run deal in the works and it would cash flow and work with DSCR rates and terms (which I believe are only a couple points above most margin rates or conventional loan rates now), I would say that might be an option to consider.

As Stuart mentioned, price point seems low which means area is likely D-C class at best.