I'm in the process of buying my first property (a condo in the northern suburbs), and I close in mid-October.

Then my mortgage company had a list of things I had to submit, including inspections they performed, before sending back the money.I would think anyone with flood insurance would have to go through the same process of working with the mortgage holder to get access to the insurance funds.Now if the government steps in and offers money to affected homeowners, no telling what rules will or will not be in place around those funds.

Again, this might end up not being a bad thing for you -- it stands to reason that the higher the bar to entry, the fewer players there are.What I would do is call a lawyer in your area who loudly and proudly announced on his website that he deals with foreclosures and ask him where you should start learning about the foreclosure process in Worcester County.New Hampshire's even more interesting.

I don't want to pay someone $1000+ to do my signing at Escrow, or to slow the process down in any way.

My last piece of general advice would be to take each step of the process of purchasing a property and break it down into sections.  

Below is some info. you will want to address as part of the assumption process. 

Followed by how much I enjoy the process.

Would you mind walking me through your process for pulling those records?

Im in the process of raising capital for down payment and holding costs.

I am in the process of getting my loan for the second place, and waiting to sign some papers with the first deal.