It's in our lease and we do fall inspections to make sure all the outside hoses are disconnected. 

He is a going to be a silent investor/funder and though I am a contractor, this will be my first property acquisition.

They don't change the AC filter or mow the lawn or rake the leaves in this season of falling leaves.

We are scheduled to close mid March, so I'd like to interview some contractors and have them walk the property before closing as soon as the eviction is finalized.If anyone has any recommendations for good contractors, you can PM me their contact information.Sorry for the long post, but I hope my story helps others from falling for the shiny object like we did and motivates them to make good decisions to pursue their quest of building wealth through REI.Updates to follow....

I need urgent help/your opinion.........anyone from Wichita Falls or experience in that Market?

Wichita Falls has been, and always will be, flat.

The deal ended up falling through since the person that the bank sent in for the appraisal refused to do it  since it is an "ilegal duplex" Since then we were interested in bidding on a property but a similar situationed happened.

I think one of the first steps is calling the local rent board or reading the ordinance to see if your property falls under the new laws.

The owner refused and said he didn't want to remove the tenant from the property and risk having the sale fall through, thus losing a paying tenant and a sale.

With that said, it sounds like you and your wife fall more on the conservative side of investing, which is great and if you are in it for the long haul, you will have great success financially.