How common is for investors on buying side to give commission to his agent if the listing has less than agent expectation of 2.5% for buyer agent.

You are correct in that once you have identified a neighborhood and you see a rental listing come on you need to run there immediately with credit reports and money.

I am going to update this thread as a diary and ask for help with decisions along the way.First order of business is we need to make a list of rehab items and budget.

The listing history is a little wonky but it looks like it just came back on the market in the last few days from a long time listed as short sale pending?

Let's take a real example: I'm renting a condo 2bed/1.5bath for $925/mo right now - it's listed yesterday.The owner bought it for $17K, invested $5K - new cabinets, flooring, HVAC, HWT, paint.

But assuming you complied with your duty to provide the written list, I would say most lawyers will agree that the maximum penalty amount you need to pay is double the amount that you "wrongfully withheld."

Is it customary to ask your GC for an itemized list with receipts of all materials?

@Ken Virzi Insurance policies will list which Perils are covered. 

The 3 properties that we currently owned were all sold by LLCs and the LLC is listed as the seller in each agreement.  

First, you should have known your leases were up for renewal, and addressed it.Second, the buyer should have required estoppels for the leases, most don't, but your listing data Definitley should have shown lease periods.Third, we have no idea what your contract says about this, nor what your listing information detailed.