In Texas if I have it right, when you make an offer as a buyer, and the seller accepts, next step is Buyer gives Seller good faith amount of money, and seller agrees to a 7 to 12 day period for inspection.If for any reason Seller does not want to go through with the transaction, and the decision is made prior to the agreed number of days.

I was considering obtaining a a Realtor Associate License in the very near future for a couple of reasons.  1) It would provide a good fall back into an industry that I very much want to be a part of.  2) Doing it now would allow me to meet the experience timeline to have my Broker's License prior to retirement.  

I would have purchased the property contingent on ALL occupents being out no later than three days prior to closing.

Any advice on proceeding w/ a preliminary evaluation prior to seeing would be much appreciated.

So there is no need to do a quiet deed transfer prior to sale.  

Prior to that, my first exposure came back in 1985.

I assume everything needs to be turned on prior to inspection, but how do i know that the house isn't going to explode when the gas comes on, or become flooded when the water comes on, or burn to the ground once the electricity comes on?   

Any expenses you want to claim prior to the day your first rental property is put into service (rent sign in yard) must be claimed as Startup Expenses not operating expenses.

The penalty is generally imposed by the bank, I would ask to see specific terms from the bank prior to accepting the deal [you'll want this during your option period] If you're trying to flip it will be an issue, if you're trying to use as buy&hold it won't matter much

Will my lender and/or title company request this permit prior to closing since this is not a new construction ?