It would be much appreciated.Direction on the applicable laws in Real Estate, sure: "Google.com". 

I encourage you to consult with a qualified attorney to ensure this agreement complies with applicable laws in your area.

@India H.When you're diving into real estate investing, especially through auctions, it's essential to have your financing and structure in place.

And, yes, there are years of data points to validate that just within my office, tens of thousands of dollars of wasted appraisal and inspection fees for deals (mostly not mine, thankfully) that had 0.00% of going anywhere but the "Loan Application Declined" bin. 

My mom says to ask if they're almost done with the application and let them know that another couple inquired and offered $1,700 and see if they want to match that price.

Worst case scenario, if that doesn't work, I can simply do fertilizer applications and landscape lighting as they don't require much labor.

Id go right into looking at local credit unions and small community banks for HELOCs (lines of credit) so you can have a lower blended rate and draw/payback as you please.For the 3F - Since this is free and clear, you would only be looking at 1st position options here in the world of financing.

And IMHO, the prices are dropping big time (on avg. 10K/month...houses that were above 300K a year ago are not selling at 250K now) and the available rentals saturation is worse than I seen during summer season (with rents dropping from 1$-1.08/sqft to 0.8$/sqft and very little contacts and applications...just go in Zillow and look how many rentals are on the market now in Kyle, New Braunfels or Converse). 

I would first check city/county STR rules and HOA (if applicable). 

I am sure they are a good company that offers some great options but in all fairness if you are not using all of the banks and lenders in the US how can you say your are providing a customer with the best finance option?