Obviously this will reduce my holding costs and interest carry, but has several potential negative outcomes and risks.

@Tom Gimer or more specifically should carry around contracts in my car for the off chance of this happening again and get the owner to sign my contract.

We sold 17 units at substantial profits and carried second mortgages on them prior to the crash.

Naturally the months of vacancy destroyed the profitability for the year but it was an important lesson which will be carried forward on our plan for future vacancies.

So now each day is carrying half penny higher.

I have a property I want to buy that that the owner is willing to carry back part of the purchase. 

And the conversation carried and luckily the broker was much much more polite in person and apologize for her story to the class.I met the broker, the agent, and the CL100 inspector this morning, and I think we have them back to a good place. 

Would I need to carry my own insurance?

All the essentials are in place like insurance, home owners warranty (already rehabbed but carrying as a precaution) and taxes paid.

The beauty of owner carry is I do not have to do repairs on the property.