If you've been following the forums, you've probably encountered the oft-used term "house hacking".Another program you can use for an owner-occupied property is NACA. 

Once you've got some experience and a team in place ready to handle whatever rehab nightmare you might encounter then you can consider the risk and reward of buying an auction property sight unseen.  

He really is a great guy and I don't fear the scam that many complain about but I feel strongly that whatever education they can provide (from $2-20k) can be found on BP and in other RE books for much less.  

I'm wondering if I should start with a 3 month lease so I don't encounter an off-season market every time the lease renews - or 15 month? 

I also fully understand that your broker and their ops manager do not see any problem with refi of a property where a purchase option is in place - and this may proceed without an issue, of which I certainly hope that it works out for you.Just be aware, I've encountered this exact situation where everyone said it was fine and even the underwriter expressed no concern when asked about it in advance - but just prior to closing it suddenly became an issue when they pulled title and saw the cloud.

The simplest of these still took an hour.I was delighted to avoid the commute to a title office, and they were happy with their job.I really think its a trend of the future...not at all a scam.

The owner of this online 'website' is a man named Frank LaMark (google Frank LaMark scam or fraud) you will find many others who have been scammed by him also.

So I have a property in contract and let me tell you,,,,,, this has been the most stressful thing I have ever encountered in my life !!!!!!!!

This is south FL, and I feel like the general rule is that if someone isn't trying to scam you right now they will later (sad but true).  

I recently encountered someone willing to pay a year's rent upfront.