We're also starting to scour other forums for possible investments outside the traditional MLS sites, and other areas like upstate NY. 

See what the $19k was for first, it may have been neccessary, but still that does not make it ok for them to do it without a signed CO.You can ask an attorney a few questions using sites like Avvo or Rocket for not much $$$.

I have never used that site.

Does this mean the realtor does not have exclusive rights to sell the property and the owner is probably advertising the same property on one of those by owner sites?

Basically, these are lands that technically qualify as Sending sites, but that have issues such that nobody really wants to build there.

Appreciation virtually always results in rent appreciation which results in increased cash flow.Case shiller used to publish a ranking of large cities based on total residential return since the year 2000.  

Is your income considered variable in nature depending on job sites and that you do not work a set amount of hours per week?

I have spent time on the PaperStac site, but they seem like mostly “dog” notes and not ones that I would want to own or trust to buy.

The Lenders tab at the top of the site helps with finding lenders by product and location.

One thing you might think of doing is having and promoting your own website to avoid the exhorbitant fees charged by the third party sites such as Expedia, Booking.com and Air BnB.