Check your min/max fade distance in the properties. I set mine to -1 minimum, 0 maximum (which means it wont fade). Any other settings tend to get my objects to not appear.
for the prop. try prop_dynamic_override. some objects that seem like they would be static aren't necessarily static props. dynamic_override makes everything show up.
for the overlay. hmm. are you doing normal rad and vis compile? you may need to do both of those for it to show up. not sure though