However, the situation is complicated by the status of the building, the board and property manager.

For example:Los Angeles County Parcel Viewer:http://assessormap.co.la.ca.us/mapping/viewer.aspand King County, WAhttp://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/gis/propresearch/parcelviewer.aspxNot only can you link over to property data like taxes, and previous sales, you can also see things like permit status, code violations, lien filings, etc.I would start with the county website where the property is located.

Tax status.

That's not true at all.Many deals fall out for whatever reason.Also the pending comp might have closed already and the listing broker didn't update the status yet in the MLS.I find this frequently and even though my local MLS can fine the broker/agents for not updating on time they are still lazy agents out there.A sold comp 6 months back means nothing.Finance markets have changed,money down,time to close,more regulations,your local market could have stayed flat,declined heavily,or has appreciated and gotten hot.So 6 months ago does nothing for me.Recent closings in 30 to 60 days max in close proximity and not far away will paint a better picture.You also need to look at what is common in buyer paid closing costs and the list price to selling price ratio and days on the market until a sale.Good Luck

When you get there go to the post housing office, you may have to clear in there, they know the area and status of available housing, but more important will be what they see in the future.

I moved from an area where I had a 4600 sq. ft. house with a 2100 sq. ft. guest house on 20 acres with a pond.

Most banks and mortgage departments know me in my area, sorry, but it makes a difference, if I assure themthe deal is good as gold, it's good as gold, but that doesn't always fly with some office or servicer in Chicago or Lexington or Miami, so you take your chances.

You get roughly 3 tablets of heavier stock for the price you'd normally get 8 of the weaker paper stock.I'm trying to remember the brand that I got because I tossed the tablet bindings after I tore out the last packets I purchased, but it's called something like "Docket Gold", or something like that.

Good resources that are what Jennifer Lee was talking about.Alleghany County Web Page that will tell you the current assessed value and appeal status, if any is in progress.

There might be some way where you could transfer up your annual limit of value in to your IRA each year but you would need a current value and subtract that value and would be very costly doing appraisals each year as well as I think easy transaction to cause your IRA to lose it's tax deferrred status if done wrong.