If you had an appraisal contingency, and you backed out of the deal before the contingency deadline, you would be entitled to the earnest money.

I've known people who chose to operate illegally and just bake the tentative fines into their contingency budget.If you want to share the link to the ordinance or DM me the general locale of the property I could poke around and see what other info there is.

They have slowed somewhat but have increased their purchase price up to $475k (previously capped closer to $400k)*SFR Only (no attached)*Max price $475k*3+ Bed, 2+ Baths, 2-car Garage*Built 1980+*No Pool/Spa/Septic/SolarTypical offer:*Waived appraisal*No financing or other contingencies*No concessions requested or home warranty*Quick close of escrowThe close on about 95% of their offers.On a side note our market seems to be tipping.

You'll need advice on entity choice (ex, LLC vs partnership vs corp), & will need agreements drawn up to handle contingencies such as the ones mentioned by @Drew Sygit along with others.If you're holding it for rental, you'll need a good lease, don't try to wing it, the fee you pay your attorney is a relatively small investment that will pay off. 

With a $133,000 budget, you should have 10% in there for contingencies. 

The difference between locking up this amazing home vs not, came down to the appraisal contingency and having enough trust built with my clients to have them listen to what needed to be done

Provide a full contingency release pending accepting of this request (assuming you are in a position to do so).

A firm price is good but there are usually unknown expenses that occur on many rehab projects, which is why the Standard 203k has a 10%-20% contingency reserve added to the rehab price to cover these items. 

If so, are there contingencies to help you salvage that?

No contingency.