Love the place, hate the boards and committees.

The historic district proper is pretty safe (there is a neighborhood supported security patrol) but there will be issues with the preservation committee.

Seeking to provide more aid to troubled borrowers, House lawmakers on Wednesday advanced legislation that would enable homeowners to shrink their mortgages in bankruptcy court.http://www.fool.com/news/associated-press/2007/12/12/house-committee-approves-mortgage-bankruptcy-measu.aspxThis would push mortgage rates up and make home ownership more difficult for most Americans.

They have to send evertying into a committee for approval, etc.

But they can't decide on a line of credit for me without checking with some committee at their regional level.

Historic districts can make deals losers from all the red tape and approval you have to go through.So your time to rehab goes much longer and bringing back the original character the committee wants can inflate your expected reno costs.A house of that age has many hidden bombs such as galvanized plumbing,radon,knob and tube wiring,asbestos,foundation problems etc.I think it's a marginal deal as well.

lolYou need a local banker that keeps paper in house where the loan committee can look over your unique situation for a chance at being approved.

In either case, I would go ahead and put a stop payment on the check after making sure it has not cleared your account.As a side note, real estate contracts are (at least in Texas) promulgated by a broker lawyer committee and filled in by realtors.

I would raise a fit and ask them if you need to check with the state realtors committee on their practices and see what happens :) Sometimes people need to be reminded.

I have our first two unit project going after the historic committee.