The property management agreement I signed "grants the pm the sole right to institute legal and collection actions on behalf and at owners expense, to perform evictions, recover possession of the premises, and to settle and release such actions."

Did you show up ready to close that day even though seller was not ready to perform??

Performance bonds for completion may be in line.Ensure the minutes of meetings are current as to adopted proposals and debts or financial obligations recently not shown on the books.Look to any related party dealings, among other entities or related individuals

I will note the current owner has performed a lot of repairs.

If you intend to purchase for 375K and put another 80K of your cash into repairs and later want to perform a cashout refinance you will need to make sure the property appraises for an after-rehab value of 650K assuming you can find a lender to lend at 70% ARV.(70% of 650K is approx 455K which is the 375K + 80K; to keep it simple I left out closing costs, carrying costs, marketing costs, etc)

You can hire contractors, you can fire them when they don't perform, you can call them up and cuss them out all you want.

The models are all over the board...try to find something that is already rented and performing or has a rental guaranty from the provider.

In theory, you could undertake legal action to make the seller "perform" on the original contract you had.

Is the work performed by California agents 5x that of the work performed by Ohio agents ????

Another issue is a tenant is still restricted to the use of property, making improvements and other aspects that require an owner to perform, like in contracting and obtaining building permits.