The agent.A short sale is pretty much this in a nutshell1) Buyer is in trouble and sends hardship to bank2) Agent does analysis and comes up with price (Which is of course lower than what is owed to bank)3) Bank says, go ahead and put it on the market4) Somebody looks at house and puts in offer5) Seller accepts any offer that comes in because they want out (regardless of how much the bank loses)6) Bank takes weeks/months to pay for their own evaluation, look at how long on the market, run an internal appraisal, look and do a cost benefit analysis on the loan and property7) Bank accepts/counters or denys the offer (provided they decide to do anything at all and not just foreclose on the original borrower and take the house themselves)I have it happen monthly....

Get wiring info ahead of time.

California LLCs can be more of a PITA than other jurisdiction due to your pesky franchise tax board; but, LLCs are wonderful vehicles, even in California. 

The outbuildings will not be used for vehicle storage or any storage for that matter until I replace the roofs.

He said multiple times that this is the price and it will not go up.Using this information, knowing I'll have to pay $3000 and have a rental-ready unit before October, I decided to go ahead with the purchase.Fast forward to today, his boss (the company owner) shows up, and says that after cleaning the sewer line a bit, he's able to see there's a lot more problems than what they previously thought.

However, there are challenges ahead.

Based on some of the information I have gathered from Brian, along with some of my own research, I believe a crowdfunded deal or a private lending opportunity may be my best bet with this vehicle. 

Annnnnd with the twins we also are having to purchase a bigger vehicle too.

I didn't list bankruptcy as a screening requirement either way - a very recent one seems different than 4 years ago, but I don't know much about the bankruptcy process - not sure how you would include every single dynamic into that ahead of time.  

But there are some potential pitfalls to consider on the back-end:The mobile home adds rental income, but not necessarily appraisal value (in most states, they are titled as vehicles, not real estate).