You will still have to take it to court, but the court will be more in your favor for the fact the the tenant did sign the intent to vacate form, but did not vacate.

Cheaping out up front does you no favors. 

A lot of newbies have asked me to put them in use on exchanging favors in return for knowledge..Favors like looking at certain properties to take pics, video or even knocking on the door to ask owner questions..

We favor places with mostly owner occupants and nice walkable downtowns.

The landlord/tenant laws appear to be much more favorable.

I have expanded my search to 3-4 unit properties because the numbers work in my favor, much easier!

Primarily because even though the reason for eviction would have presumably fallen outside the local Covid protections, the law is largely untested and the courts might construe it very liberally in favor of the squatting tenant all things considered. 

There would likely be hoops to jump through to get it re-zoned but in theory, if it was zoned 4-family residential, that would unlock more favorable loan products and actually might make resale down the line easier.Just thinking about what I would do with this deal if it was presented to me.

I expect our market will continue to appreciate through the summer as well so delaying is in my favor in that aspect.

You could perhaps try and fix that problem and offer some kind of a cash for keys option (less than your first offer) and also pay for a full service moving company to solve their problem of packing stuff and also moving it to their new location.I hope something works out in your favor on this one, sounds frustrating to say the least!