I'm an Architect and Builder based out of Watertown, MA.

How are you going to touch base with them? 

Then they do a quick conversion to condos in two years and raises the property value.Such buyers are most likely buying on emotions because they are purely looking for a nice home to live (not cash flow), possibly buying in that location because of proximity to family or about to start a family, etc; so they will pay top dollar.  

I've seen too many people jump in before gaining some base knowledge.  

3) Should I get lending from a FL based lender or San Francisco Lender?

the biggest issues are that the available tenant base drops dramatically around October and doesn't pick up again till the end of the school year.People are no different than animals in that regard.They want to be settled and hunkered down in a property before the school year and/or bad weather starts.Quality tenants with good financial backgrounds don't want to move their families in the middle of an icy,snowy winter for obvious reasons,and good college students have already started school in August.Many of the few available tenants will have questionable backgrounds like recent job loss,previous eviction,bad credit,difficult income verification and don't make 3 times the rent,criminal records,etc.   

My math showed it is a 9 cap based on actuals and will be a 13.5 cap after it is re-positioned (market rents, sub metering water).

If you're only considering fixing the space and renting it to some other business which doesn't have any synergies, then this should be evaluated as a pure investment of capital, and you should weigh that investment vs. an investment in your business, which would yield higher returns.Also interesting is that you have very intimate knowledge about the distressed state of the seller, which most people will not have, and also pretty good knowledge about the building, as you've been there awhile.

If it is very large you likely need to contest the EM be returned to you.Did you not give cancellation notice based on a finance contingency in the contract?

Your compensation structure MAY very well be a combination of base pay plus comission, perhaps in line with the industry average.