If you achieve Real Estate Professional status, you could potentially drive your income down to zero, minimizing your taxes.

When I need to send a fax I go to FaxZero.com and can send up to 3 pages for free (with logo on cover page which is just fine by me) or one can pay a minimal fee for larger documents.Hope this helps!

However, since its the attorneys that order Title for their client, the attorney has to eat the cost of Title's work if the deal doesn't close.Similarly, I try to manage client transactions to minimize exposure to costs. 

To minimize risk, lenders should assess the property's value, maintain a low loan-to-value ratio, conduct thorough due diligence, and use legally binding contracts.

I am worried not only about escalating costs but also about diminishing profit margins due to delays in obtaining permits.

I caught it before closing which minimized my damages.

We’d also like to buy a house to move into in the near future and of course dropping $100k of savings into property 2 would delay that.

There's also delayed financing if you buy the property in cash without any financing/liens involved in the purchase. 

If you purchase within 6 months, do a DELAYED Financing, which allows you to access 80% LTV of purchase price with terms equal to a purchase (better rate than refi). 

We’d also like to buy a house to move into in the near future and of course dropping $100k of savings into property 2 would delay that.