I am, however, disagreeing with your assertion that vacation rental property hurts surrounding home/condo owners.  

Or if you have an attorney handle closing perhaps you can assert a certain damage figure and require them to accept it at closing or you walk away.

The contractor can claim damages by asserting they scheduled your job, and lost out on the opportunity to complete a different job, which is exactly what happened in your case.

This Agent / PM Company could be in for some serious violations & Fines if everything checks out as you have asserted.   

And most recently staying local in another direction about 10 miles away I got assertive when a listing agent failed to list a property and made my offer anyway and bought a great 8 unit that will double in value to almost $1MM in 6 months.

Make it more assertive.  

Be assertive.

Contrary to petitioner's assertion, the record before us contains ample evidence to support the ZBA's finding that the properties at issue constitute a general nuisance within the meaning of Albany City Code § 375-91.

As a potential buyer, whether we're newbies or not, we had every right to ask every question, test every light switch, and assert ourselves.

You continually make assertions that real estate is different in some markets than others.