I've done door to door for 3 pest control companies.

Mortgage company may require the appraisal but what may happen is that you would have to fund 20% of appraised value plus the difference between the appraised value and sale price.

I'm trying to compare prices across different models / companies.

As far as automating as much as possible and treating the properties as a professional business, is using custom email address for each unit (like: 123StreetA at company dot com*) taking it too far?

The electric company remounted the entrance cable, but told me I am responsible for repairing the damage to the feeds and meter bases. 

i also run a property management company, looking to expand in to clifornia. 

Let me look into this.Trying to see if it's worth holding on to it in case the housing market recovers.Reach out to a Title / Escrow company for information on Land contracts in TX. 

If the seller's insurance paid for a professional decomp company to clean up the aftermath then you should be okay.

Are there better companies to buy these homes from?

As a private lender we don’t require borrowers to pay anything before closing other than the hazard insurance - and that they pay directly to their insurance broker or company.