If you can't do that in your state;Have the borrower sign a stack of checks for the payments and keep them locked up.

If you're really moving into each of these houses, lock, stock, and barrel, then maybe this really is some power-tripping city employee.

Personally, I would consider starting now if you know you can lock up a good property.

Locking in long term, fixed rate financing may be your best option if you want to buy sooner rather than later.

The tech sector is a lot more established now however, so that would insulate the bay area unless there's a shock to the tech sector.What do you think?

We built a house in 2008 my husband and I are not contractors but my husband gathered all the man power we needed, he would go to construction sites and speak to the workers to see if they wanted to do a side job that's how we were able to get all the people we needed, we also did a lot of the work ourselves like sheet rock painting and HVAC the biggest challenge was not the fact that we had never done anything like this before or that we built in a bad area and people would steel material to buy drugs, which forced us to buy a fifth wheel trailer park it on the lot and live in it, it was the money and time we did everything cash, my husband was working a full time job 5:30am to 6 or 7 pm (he is an AC tech, and here in AZ the heat is brutal ) and doing AC side jobs after work he would get back around 10 or 11pm than he would pick up the hammer and work on this house we were building, and go to bed around 2 or 3 am sleep for a couple of hours and continue the same rutine.

Since it was really cold, I wasn't concerned too much about it, but still had an HVAC tech go check it out.  

Stuff we're using is some really difficult to find EC Lock stuff at about $1.60sqft.

We stopped by the property around 9pm last night to make sure things were locked up, and he was there by himself doing some touch up painting and appeared to be high on drugs (and offered us a beer).He is still insistent we'll close everything out next week on schedule, but I have serious reservations.

What are the showing instructions, lock box etc?