For me, and from what I've heard on the podcasts and from investors, real estate INVESTING seems to be the best, most fulfilling option towards independence, freedom, self-preservation, and self-actualization. 

In a) for example, if you received $10 consideration on a property worth $100,000 the court may likely rule that this is not "valuable" consideration, and may therefore invalidate the agreement.In b), if there were conditions on you receiving this consideration (for example, money credited at closing, money for option consideration held in escrow, etc) the court may rule that the other party did not fulfill his end of the agreement by actually giving you "valuable" consideration at the time the agreement was executed. 

Additionally, my understanding is that (for conventional loans) you must live in the house for a minimum of 12 months in order to fulfill the "owner occupant" requirement.

@Steven TuckerIf this is the strategy you choose to employ, I'd suggest getting a buyer's list together sooner rather than later so you can be ready to make deals as quickly as possible so that you can fulfill your promise to the seller rather than hold their property hostage while waiting to get buyers together.

These would be equity partners bringing in funding to fulfill an equity requirement on a hard money "take-down" loan or a construction loan, typically for multi-family projects. 

Our request for an estimate was never fulfilled and I was under the illusion the contractor was in communication with the insurance company at the time.

According to the lease signed, it states that the security deposit will be refunded as long as they fulfill all obligations as per the contract, including the full term of the contract had expired.

I cannot stop thinking about how I could be a small change in a massive societal problem: poverty.Poverty stems from many things, main things that kill people are lack of examples of success, lack of education, lack of opportunity, thinking you are stuck in your neighborhood etc.

It is really due to lack of knowledge and societal programming.

When I bought my primary residence in the 1980s, the societal mindset at the time was to buy as much house as you could afford (dream home) because it would only go up in price, your income would always go up, and you would be paying down your mortgage.