Saying 'no' to pets will drastically reduce your candidate pool, so you might shop for a pet-friendly house (hard floors, securely fenced yard).Even if you're cool with pets, you should meet the specific pets and have a good long talk with the candidate on that animal's temperament and quirks prior to agreeing to lease to them.

Only fee prior to closing is appraisal paid to appraiser. 

You will want to mock up a typical deal prior to pitching though and have a clear business plan for acquisition and exit. 

It's extremely important to have a mutual agreement in contract form with the contractor prior to starting the work, which lays out the scope of work, timeline, and other expectations from both sides in great detail.

As far as the 1031 goes you need to make sure that they're in place prior to the closing of the sale. 

Is there data supporting a date to sell prior to major expenditures that would maximize returns on a rental and selling price?

I'd be surprised if an escrow agent and/or title agent would be willing to close and issue title insurance on a second contract with knowledge of an unreleased prior contract. 

We filed prior to Apr 15 and got a refund already so I don't think there is a general delay. 

This works out OK because your purchase was based on the current condition, so you are in effect not paying for the damage done prior to purchase (the previous owner basically paid for this in accepting an offer than was based on current condition).Good luck

Also if its a more complex property (multi-family) make sure to do your due diligence to ensure prior to closing that everything is OK (i.e. everyone paying rent, etc.).