Then 3) you will get ideas and necessary items from the Contractors that come to give you their bids.You will finally arrive at a complete SOW, but it takes a while.

The hotter the market, the more you can get away with FSBO. but if you don't get a buyer at a great price within 2 weeks, upgrade to a flat rate broker (no listing agent commission).right now is a bad time for fsbo

This is so that the lender has the funds to pay when the bill arrives.

When I arrived the clerk informed me that this has to be done by a lawyer or a notary.   

I used to have a clause that said very clearly that I was in complete charge of every aspect of the job and the customer was not allowed to bring in their own contractors - unless in a rare case I would allow one if I checked them out carefully and added on my mark-up of 25%.It's not just insurance issues as @Adrian Lemus said, but it just screws up the schedule and gets into 'I said/you said' episodes, plus code issues.I had a customer bring in an alarm company without even telling me once and I arrive one morning to find their employee drilling a hole in a huge beam that we had just installed.

In that case you'll be getting the FMV arrived at based on depreciating rent levels and market value, you may not get much more than you paid for it 20 years ago.

You need to know how they are arriving at their values. 

Boyd,You can get 80% LTV financing as a new arrival with a work visa or a green card, but you must have income...either in receipt of your first paycheck or a contractual letter of employment with salary, start date, and position outlined.  

@Torgeir Willumsen  one of my Singapore partners arrive today in Portland..

You should absolutely contact your local assessor to confirm how they arrive at assessed values.