Now.. if the city reviewer/examiner has a specific problem with this project because of the stop work order/un-permitted work, then that is a separate issue.  

You plan to take money from the 401K - have you examined the tax consequences of that?

In some states there is also "Education in Lieu of Experience" to qualify for the real estate broker's exam. In

Second, this is your first investment property ... also not a good sign for a lender (no track record).Ask yourself (many times throughout your examination of this property), "If I had to use only my money to make this deal work (no loan), is this the best place to use my money?"

Get all the stats on the home make a tour and then examine all the sold homes within a mile of the home that compare favorably with this property and then take the average of the "sold prices" to set a preliminary "List Price".

Yet an examination of historical tax levels and unemployment rates reveals no obvious correlation.

In all cases, you have to do some examination of the comps to see their condition and actual configuration.

A person who has met all the license qualification requirements (including a 75-hour prelicensing course and passing the Commission’s license examination) is initially issued a broker license on “provisional” status and is referred to as a “provisional broker.”

My favorite contingency language is: “The buyer shall not be bound to this contract, and all earnest money shall be returned until the buyer has examined and approved the condition of the premises, the title, and the financial arrangements as of the date of settlement.”

The latter part of the second statement, "half the borrowing is 'from countries like China'", was also examined in the linked article and was determined to be inaccurate.Nevertheless, the verified point here, 42% of spending is new borrowing, is the underlying problem here.