The "practicing without a license" accusation should only have any credence if you had marketed the Contract/Property publicly in the meantime (which according to your story, you won't have).

Another notable point is that the owner now owns the deed free and clear so there is no outstanding mortgage obligation to her.The last thing is that the building had been on the market for over a year and was originally listed for 149K and she has been methodically reducing the list price by 10K every 3 months.  

That is not public info.

If tenants see that you mean it, they might realize that an eviction on their record will reduce the chance for further tenancy therefore it is better for them to fulfill the contract.

That reduces the competition.

It's hard finding deals on the MLS these days, and relying on a single agent for deal flow dramatically reduces your likelihood of success.    

The thing I'm most sure of is that if we can envision it we can plan for it and therefore reduce the risks.

Many MLS operate their own public facing website. 

While licensure protects the public from unscrupulous and incompetent brokers," the decision continued, "the court cannot discern how prohibiting cooperation between an out-of-state broker and a Kentucky licensed broker reinforces this protection.

I didn't realize you could have a $1500 a month car paymentAnyway, get a loan officer to work with you and you want to look at these things:DTI   (lenders look at 43% and so should you)Overall file  (w-2'd or 1099'd and for how long)Public records  (FC?