Yes, the owner could have "translated" the document verbally to the tenants and had them sign, but that sounds wrong.

Fannie Mae subsidizes interest rates and loan terms, so if you want that subsidy then your LO needs something that can be sold to Fannie, which is where the profit is at in mortgage lending.There are non-Fannie Mae loans that do not care about FNMA rules, but you also lose the FNMA subsidy on the rate and terms.

Having to disclose the drainage issue on my non disclosure agreement with the buyer would be nice to note on there that it was done by a very reputable company with a lifetime warranty but we bought the house within 2 days of it being listed and were bidding with 3 other couples so I don’t think I will have a hard time with the resell. 

At the time, we let our son 'buy' it as a first time homeowner, with us as 'non-occupying co-borrowers'.

Even if they sign agreements that it's non refundable and if the default they can be evicted?

I currently live in a market where good deals are scarce to non-existent on the MLS.

Is it alright to tell the tenant that cable or trash is an additional non negotiable fee on top of that of 150 a month to cut some of our costs or are in the end, will we be stuck buying our tenants cable, water, and trash?

I have non traditional ways of getting around bad tenants if that problem arise.

A HELOC is a good option to increase your down payment for a non-owner occupied investment as well as for fix up.

Seller called he wants to evict a tenant for non-payment.