I will be visiting my mother in Bakersfield soon, maybe we could meet up and network.

Thanks ahead of time and feel free to post any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.   

In the future, a) get a super detailed Scope Of Work and ironclad Contract. b) Do not pay more money as a progress payment than the amount of work that has been performed, that way you are never ahead of the Contr or vice versa.Your options (depending on how much he owes you) are Small Claims Court, the State Registrar of Contrs, and possibly the local DAs office or State AG if the amount is higher ($50k ish)Good luck, let us know what happens.

I visit them almost every day. 

At this point, I see only 3 options1) assign the contract to someone else, meaning sell the apartment (but I will need approval from the developer)2) talk to the developer and ask for a minimum one-week rental (Min City Regulation) at least for the 1st year to get over the bad time.3) to just go ahead and purchase the apartment and suck up any loss I might make and try to get in refinanced as soon as possible with a lower interest rate.What are your thoughts?

But start there.Find 1 or 2 cities, visit them, stay in some airbnbs and hotels near the pulse of the city.

If three days go by and they don't respond, you should be ready for the worst. 2) If you can get ahold of them, but there is "paperwork" that is causing delays for more than a week, I'd get on a plane, and go visit them.

@Richard ChoverI have family in Temecula and love to visit the downtown and wineries.  

I grew up visiting the area and have seen all the change that has happened.

Hey Leo,Great question and it's smart you're thinking ahead on this.