You don’t have to go through a whole approval process with them at the time, just ask what their standard requirements are (for LTV, % rate, fees, turnaround time, etc).

Most banks are willing to coordinate this with you for a small fee. 

You are entitled to a minimum of a 5% fee, over the entire life of the certificate though, whenever/if it is redeemed.

In addition, we live in Jersey where there is a fee for everything and the only thing we get in return for our fee is a receipt.  

He doesn't kill me with monthly desk fees and junk like that.

Yeah they dont seem to motivated to sell as you would think for how long the house has been on the market and the fact that they have already moved and are still accruing property taxes and HOA fees every month.

Its clear he has no intentions of paying us the thousands that are owed, let alone reimbursing us for attorney/courier fees. 

What do you think are acceptable sponsor fees? 

With a quad-plex you'd only need to pay once to an attorney, replace one roof, and/or have one closing (less closing fees in total!).

I will do a short term (week or so) hold agreement with a non-refundable fee that becomes the deposit if they sign the lease on the agreed date.In your case, I'd speak with my landlord/tenant attorney and get an understanding of my options.