Do not bend over backwards for people who want to rent.

What's the purpose of a lease if we keep bending the rules? 

If there was a mention about the stairs bending or dry rot and owner ignored the problem, the court won't care about the layer of asset protection- it goes on the back, purse, and credit of the owner until settled.

My rentals are in South Bend, Indiana. 

I've seen some cheap California properties, $299,000 to low $300,000s a few in SoCal and one in the Bay Area (highly unusual for that low).

I have an unusual situation:I own a property which is under contract to sell to my tenants on Nov 1.

It is highly unusual that an agent would say don't worry about signing the contract.

We ended up moving to Bend, and the land investor again used his IRA funds to purchase a lot and go in on a new build, and another BP investor is in on the rehab we're doing in Sunriver. 

I have a tenant who has broken their lease in South Bend Indiana and a property manager who is incommunicado.

The only "unusual" thing about this part of the transaction as compared to a traditional home sale is that the owner I'm purchasing the home from will hold the mortgage for 2.5 years.