I don't close until the end of the month (or 3 weeks) and I have funds sitting in an account which are from a stock sale with significant capital gains.

Most contractors I know in this area are sitting on less than $10k in personal assets total (except their tools, haha), so the liklihood of them being able to actually pay instead of "going bankrupt" is questionable.So, from a few years down this road speaking back what I would encourage you to do is:  Figure out the process to "make it right" with the city, ask the contractor to pay for that (pay you back ideally, since they couldn't be trusted to do it right the first time), and then kick them to the curb. 

I don't recall what the latest new legislation was for your state-changes weekly-of course you will have to find that out.

Last, I'd consider replacing door hardware since the brass handles really date a unit (hello 90's!). It

Call and talk to them. 3) They'll tell you what's coming down the pipelineIf a bank-owned property sits long enough, they may take a nice low offer to get off the books (E.g. last year, I bid $240k on an REO that had an ARV of about $330k.

It can be easy to sit and wait for the perfect time to come along however its not so much about the time as it is about the property, the tenet and your reserves to plan for rainy days.Personally I think the best deals will come along in Aug-Dec but thats just my opinion who knows what is going to happen.

I reached out to him on social media in hopes of sitting down and picking his brain for a minute!

Many of the wealthiest --- including and especially Warren Buffett, Apple --- are still sitting on billions in cash. 

On the other hand, if the particular property has been sitting a little while, or is just grossly overpriced, then 80% may be reasonable.

I don't recall the podcast?