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We have natural gas in many of our units.

The buyers are more well capitalized, the sellers are more professional in nature, and the property has a professional management company keeping books in a way that a lender expects them to be for review.As a broker you do not get paid until it closes and your investor doesn't make any money as well looking at dud properties that never work out.Everyone wants to succeed and make great money.

In light of the nature if the issues, you should be able to convince the current custodian to release your account without any termination fees, since they clearly are incapable.  

This property has been consistently rented for the past seven years and we would like to keep it (thus the long term nature of it). 

The leap to being an investor was pretty natural for me as such.  

You should write them a letter and send it certified mail stating that they are at risk for damages associated with not giving proper notice, that you are holding their security deposit to cover any potential risk, and that you are currently attempting to fill the vacancy but that they are on the hook for losses incurred during that time. 

In some jurisdictions {such has our own local one}  purchaser is able to request vacant delivery of the property under a limited set of circumstances: purchaser, or immediate family member, will be occupying the premises as their primary residence;purchaser intends to undertake significant renovations - the nature of which necessitates the property be empty {there is usually a corresponding condition that theses renovations must commence within X weeks/months of possession}purchaser intends to demolish the property.I do not know if California has exceptions allowing purchasers to break an existing lease, but there are lots of folks here who do (@K.

But now I'm starting to feel the need to understand the seemingly complex nature of all the RE options of financing and which path we go down.

I did not start out with much cash and while I have more of it now, I still retain the natural desire to save up.