Whether they did or didn't doesn't really matter; they should have a certain amount of funds on hand to cover the unpaid costs.

The 3 plex she bought for $110K in 1980 sold for over $850K in 2006, 25 years later, and just that alone was more than the cash on hand when she started when she retired.

Numbers ran, cash in hand, offer out the door same day.

You can use a letter of intent to lay down the initial structure to hand to an attorney, but if you don't know, then just go straight to the attorney. 

Everyone says foundation repairs get out of hand easily and I’m not sure if I can quickly get a good structural engineer to write up a report and get quotes from GCs by the end of the closing date.

Why would I want to take that risk, AND give up the chance of getting a pile of money from a buyer who has tipped his hand as to what he'll pay?

- Repairs are never “needed” to sell a home, but may help it to sale faster/easier if done before hand.  

If the kids have a party and destroy the house and the parents say they aren't at fault, you have a serious issue on your hands!

I have a handful of vacation rentals on the island and also manage some for some other investors.

I’ll add that just the attitude the lease implied toward the tenants almost caused us to throw our hands up and walk.Interesting that we were among the first tenants and it took a while to fill the relatively large shopping center.