You have to weigh you time and effort vs the amount of money you stand to gain from him if he does end up paying.

*Another option may be to skip the door and walls and to simply put a shower stall there that has tinted glass (more tinted than the photo below but a stand alone stall):

Once they have issued a loan commitment and you have been cleared to close you have a strong legal leg to stand on.

If you are in a competitive market you will need to go non-contingent to make your offer stand out and in many cases to level the playing field.  

These are the two biggest things that stand out to me.

Talk with several professionals in any industry and a few will stand out above the others.

. - read on real estate as much as you can- Recently, I've started also going to the properties that I've evaluated to get a feel for things- check your credit and make sure it's in good standing- reach out to banks to see what they need from you to get a mortgage approval if you're planning to take that route. they will run your credit and quickly tell you if your credit has any issues. you will also get a feel of the minimum property price they will finance, the closing costs, and the down payment. the banker that i've been working with require 3% down payment if I'm living in the property, and 15% if I won't.

My point of stating my experience is to help people understand that I know what I'm talking about... if the fact that I'm already doing it isn't enough foundation to stand on."

Also I have a step who has 1/2 interest in the estate outside of the mortgage, and is listed as a co-owner on the county appraiser.Me and him are in good standing he want's nothing to with house, but does not want the bank to have it.

This year I opened a new stand alone property for rent.