I had a client back in the day I sold a big 1,200 acre trophy ranch to in northern CA.. ( which yes has had one of the fires go through it this summer).. anyway he was a big landlord in Alameda 160 doors.. and that in today market is probably 100 mil or more in real estate and it was all free and clear.. ( why I like free and clear )  and he paid cash for the ranch.BUT the moral of the story is he collected rent personally twice a month.. tenants were trained like Thomas trains his.. rent is to be in an envelope on pinned to the front door on one of those days.. no rent he then posted a 3 day notice.. so it was one or the other 3 day notice or collect the rent.. the front doors looked like pin cushions.  

Until they’re issued, they don’t exist.Like if they were going to fine you for abusing trash rules or something but you sold the house before they did, would the new owner have to pay?

I can send you a private message 

You describe the place as a "private mountain getaway," but it certainly doesn't feel like that.

Private message me if possible and I'll give his info. 

Would hard/private money be worth it to solve the issue?

I gravitated toward becoming a real estate investor 8 years ago without realizing that was happening.We bought our first home in 2010 (foreclosure) with cash during a time when prices were near bottom, and we bought using 60% our own money and 40% private loan from my MIL.

I started out with a very small amount of private money($20K) and my own cash.

Buyer 1 receives this information and is asked if he is willing to offer more and realizes that it will cause high default chances if something goes even slightly wrong, and rationally says no.The other seller in the area raises price of MF2 based on the fact that MF1 sold for 20% over asking price.

Once you get into higher end / higher priced properties, these numbers will have to change as it is not a one size fits all equation.As an example, I sold a property a few months ago for $1.56M and the gross profit at the end was about $225k which ended up being a triple of a deal (baseball reference).