I called Auction.com's appointed title company this morning (Bay National), and there is a $350 abstract fee and a $695 settlement fee that I must pay them no matter who I chose to close.  

I believe if you use the right formula - that you can accomplish your "fix/flip" without the need for money, other than the cost to fix it.We do this all the time using a formula that gives us immediate possession with a delayed settlement and with  a hybrid partnership with the seller. 

So unless a tax deed sale or tax lien foreclosure are imminent, you simply need to get to settlement reasonably quickly so the taxes can be paid before the current owner loses the property.In the case of IRS taxes, they also attache to the property.

Makes it easy to justify using the entire purchase price plus settlement costs as my depreciation basis.

In FL, typical Seller closing cost: 0.07% doc stamps0.55% title insuranceTitle search/review $125City lien search $125Seller settlement fee $300Misc recording, etc. $75

Of course I'm talking insurance settlement dollars, so you can get it done for less $ than that.

All you should notice is some extra paperwork at the closing table and the name listed as seller on the settlement statement will probably be the name of the qualified intermediary who is doing their exchange.I don't think you can read too much into just the fact that they are doing a 1031.  

But the settlement agreement they would like me to sign prevent me from writing this post, or talking about my experience with Elite at all.  

This is not legal, unless it is disclosedBe ready to do business, since you are paying cash, have that cash ready; get credit lines, borrow money and put it in account for your auction business, have partners (preferable family) with the cash ready to useGet your name on the mailing list of all of the auction companies in your area so that you are notified of salesTalk to the auction associate in charge to try to get some inside information about the sale; is it owner ordered, bank auction, foreclosures, will they accept a precaution offerAsk questions, what is the reserve (sometimes they will tell you, sometimes they won't, what is the balance of the mortgage, if your are the high bidder will you get the property free and clear of any liensWhat is the first deposit, what is what is the second depositis there interest on the high bid from the day of sale to day of settlement (this could be very expensive), there are times when due to a legal situation, the trustee can't settle the property immediately and it may take 6 months or longer, this means that you may be paying 1% or more per month until settlement.How soon will you have to settle, 5 days, 10 days, 30 daysCan you have possession immediately (you should get this, it will give you a head start on cleaning the property up and prepping for re-sale or rentalWill the auction company disclose any known defects (septic system failure, well failure, termites, water problems...etc,Ask for a copy of the auction contract and forms you will be required to sign and read every word......make sure you understand what you are committing to do (many of those contracts have hidden clauses that will hurt youWill they accept your business or personal check (try to get approved to use your checks (most auction companies require certified funds, if that is a requirement, get a certified check made out to you)Make sure you have good comparable sales data, you need to know what the value is and what you can sell it for immediately if you have to, try to understand the repair cost alsoYou may want to consider selling the property (assignment) before settlementSet your high bid price and don't go higherCheck out your competition at the sale, most of these folks are professional buyers (predators) and will out bid you or give you a chance to out-bid yourself......be careful, try to get to know them (you will see them at every auction sale, they are really good at what they do.

We typically would accept 10% as a settlement in full on the unsecured debt, and the company would retain 30% of what we collected.