Make sure their expectations are aware of your conducting a rent assessment.  

Is there any part of the deposit we can keep even though we didn't conduct an inspection prior to her moving out?

The new rules that went into effect on 5/1 are called HVCC (home valuation code of conduct) - search the boards here and you can find a few posts from an appraiser who gives his thoughts.Unfortunately appraised value matters more today then at another other time - I have posted here a few times about the importance of getting an appraiser to give you values - meaning you can't rely on your own comps - on Realtor comps anymore - you really need to spend the $$ for a value check / desktop or actual appraisal…can save a lot of headache before you buy a property.Unfortunately there isn’t’ a lot that we can do about it.

And when I say very few, I mean perhaps a dozen of the 300+ homes that I have conducted energy audits for in the last 2 years have had well designed passive ventilation.

The requirement that an attorney is required to conduct closings in MA is not by statute but by case law.See: Real Estate Bar Association (REBA) v.

., find a 3rd party to buy the property from the seller).When you use a contingency that is based on an immaterial issue, I think it's also a breach of ethical conduct.

Now employing these strategies is much harder with title companies so the guru's are hucking systems but not mentioning the success stories were from years ago.Any businesses failure most of the time is undercapitalization and improper use and rate of growth for funds taken in (mismanagement).So sadly it doesn't matter what venture a person goes into they will many times get the same result as how they conduct themselves is the common denominator and NOT what they are selling or buying.

With that said so I don't waste the agents time, is it out of the question to contact the selling agent give them the ballpark range I am willing to offer before I even conduct a visit?  

If a buyer knows the FHA health and safety guidelines to the tee they could in essence team a maintenance crew and loan officer (as an advisor) up to do the "minimum," amount of work during the escrow period prior to the FHA appraisal (assuming min repairs) being conducted and potentially close with a standard (non 203k) FHA loan.

My buyer wants us to see the property once more (and maybe conduct an inspection before he establishes the firm date and posts the EMD).