No, not income.Would have to see the settlement statement and county property tax statement to be sure, but generally it is a reduction in your property tax expense for the applicable tax year as that is the seller's prorated portion of property taxes for the portion of the year he/she owned the property.It's generally a current liability that hangs out on your balance sheet until the next property tax payment cycle.

Besides that I'm just going to separate the gas line.I'll share numbers on utility work if settlement goes through.

This person can negotiate on your behalf, draft the agreement of sale, and get you to the settlement table.

The buyer is only waiting for settlement to occur with all contractual obligations are fulfilled.

(It also sounds like there were no specifics discussed, which makes it harder to say that it was a true “verbal contract”)In this case, your best solution is to talk to the landlord and let him know that you both made mistakes and wanna come to a mutual settlement to put it all in the past and move on amicably.

The statement regarding the parties ¨settling¨the matter would have no legal significance in any jurisdiction I practiced in because it does not specify the manner in which such settlement should be determined (in other words, that language is too vague), and again, I don´t live in the U.S. and will not be returning, thereby making any type of research or settlement somewhat difficult. 

In my understanding the only way this would work is:With the consent of the seller ORThrough a foreclosure.So . . . .if someone is in touch with the seller then you have the opportunity to negotiate a settlement scenario. 

As Jaysen mentioned, you need to occupy the property as your primary residence after settlement, however there isn't any real requirement for how long after settlement you need to live there.

Stay healthy, stay away from bad people.Some ideas to find the deals:walk/drive neighborhoods, look for neglected propertiesadvertise, newspapers, radio, pass out flyersWrite a nice letter to landlordsWhen housing court starts up again, meet landlords there - chatCall and visit owners of Expired Listings - make offersBuild a relationship with a few Realtors, offer to pay them a fee (3-5% of purchase price for unlisted buildings) for presenting your offers to FSBO's and expired listings (auto pilot investing) The purpose behind this is to open negotiations with sellers, I always offer well below their asking price BUT IN WRITING hand delivered by an agent (you save time, cost of gas and you increase the odds of finding a fat equity deal)Study Real Estate Control techniques; delayed settlement, assignment clauses, all types of options, hybrid or JV with sellers, repair consideration with possession (known as front porch offers) use one of the 21 proposals for seller financing (the best highest leverage financing you can get)My LOCK-DOWN has proven to be profitable, I have time to network and develop clients nationwide to mentor/partner transactions.

@Ellen Xu @David Paul WestenbergerCosts to acquire a loan used to purchase an investment property are capitalized and amortized over the life of the loan.Any prepaid expenses paid at settlement (prepaid insurance, prorated property taxes, etc.) are deductible as operating expenses.