You are in treacherous waters here ... the prospective tenant told you they were receiving disability making them a protected class so be careful. 

They just raised the minimum deduction to the point that it is more than most people's itemized deductions.I would be willing to refi a rental to pay off my home mortgage because in most states your personal home and qualified retirement accounts are protected from bankruptcy/law suites so they are one of your most secure places to stash your money (although fairly illiquid). 

The fact he is doing it himself and he needs $5,000 from you to get the deal done tells me he is not much of a player and is quite amateurish.

In all likelihood, he has an "Exclusive Right to Sell" contract with the seller, so he gets paid no matter what.What he's probably worried about is that his seller isn't a trained negotiator and will say or do something to either screw up the deal or to give you ammunition to come back looking for a big discount.In other words, he's trying to protect the seller - to whom he's a fiduciary. 

2) If a property needs to be updated (ex: new floor, paint, fence), how should I go about incorporating language into a deal that allows me to make the updates I need while providing me with the proper protection financially and operationally?

Anyway, we decided on a refundable deposit, proof of it being a "service" animal, and an addendum that she sign and return that basically protects both parties.

Get a solid contract that protects the owner and you.

Also in the world of asset protection (not legal advice, just opinion) there is a concept known as equity stripping which means you protect your capital by pulling the equity out of it so if someone sues you there's not much to gain except for getting a charging order to obtain your rental income which there are ways around that too."

Investors will want to ensure that the areas they are investing into have low rates of crime, or are at the very least improving over time.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires many financial institutions to maintain, report, and publicly disclose loan-level information about mortgages.

A zoning attorney really only deals with zoning issues and what you want is a review of code requirements, zoning requirements, any potential historic protections, easements, etc.