We now owe 105k on the house, but we aren't set on staying there long term (don't like the back yard, long commute, less than ideal school zone).

Hello BP community,As a former Contractor turned investor/stay at home dad, I am in the middle of my first property deal with two Contractor/Developers in my previous home of Teton Valley, ID. 

Drew Kimminau I would stay away from under 70k homes.

As Andreas mentioned, it's good policy to outsource your debt collection activities to licensed 3rd parties to reduce risk and stay compliant with rules and regs.

I would recommend you start by downloading your landlord tenant laws for your state..Then set your rental criteria,, credit score, income, (= to 2 or 3 time the rent ), occupancy limit per bedroom size of apartment... no cosigners,No pets,, no smoking,, what ever..but it stays the same for everyone.. 

However, I have a comfortable allocation of secured funds for investing and there other reasons I believe I'd qualify for other loan options.My question is, how do I see about getting additional pre-qualifications on identified properties/home values without lenders pulling my credit?

Of course that opens up the next question, which is how much money do I need to be happy or comfortable.

Unfortunately it looks like the tenant can stay and not pay rent until your brother takes him to court to lift the "automatic stay."

So that's cool :) Considering the situation with the sale and comparing the contract options, I would be comfortable doing a purchase agreement on this with some legal verification.

Ideally I am looking for something that he can stay in while he's there and do any work that needs to be done and keep it as a rental when he goes on to the next job.