I am particularly concened about the water meters not being hooked up and potential charges there. 

No if potential buyer have given you emd than you are under the assumption this is a serious buyer and will close on the deal but he has only a certain amount of time with his inspection period so if he backs out you still have time to fund another buyer. 

No sure about that as buyers want to see the finished product and showing them before pictures will often not be well received.That's funny, my wife said the exact same thing about showing them the before pictures. 

In the event that a seller was to owner finance a property to a buyer without a SSN, is there a market for the Note to be sold to a note buyer?  

I am a young, new investor looking for some advice on a potential buy.

While they often require some level of repair or renovation, the potential for significant returns makes them an attractive option for many investors.Why Invest in Distressed Properties in Phoenix?

For some buyers it would end up being less than a 2.5-3% commish, and for others more.The tricky part for the buyer is it would have to come out of their pocket in addition to the down payment, whereas a commission paid by the seller at closing is included in the purchase price and absorbed into their loan (usually unless paying cash obviously) so the buyer only has to make the down payment out of pocket.

Hey, congrats on finding a potential flip—it sounds like you’re on the right track!

Quote from @Jeff Calcaterra: We have a potential tenant new to the area who has gone through a paid background check, signed a background check authorization form, sent us a LinkedIn profile, sent an offer letter and says he is willing to send us paycheck stubs, but says he doesn't want us to call HR to verify employment because he is supposed to have found housing already.

I negotiate at 70% ARV so the deals I bring are solid and I'd love to work with one single corporate cash buyer that is able to close  on several deals a month.