You should get something signed by the seller any way, generally they come through when something is on paper.

At that point, my LLC was only a piece of paper.

What you might have is loosely referred to as a pre-qualification - and that's not worth the paper it's printed on.Until that lender has reviewed those supporting docs and run your credit, he has absolutely no idea whether you can buy a property or not. 

My portfolio is split about 50/50 between real estate and paper assets.

A few weeks back I showed up in my beat-up truck and went to the door of a house with papers on the door.

On paper, it seems like a good buy, but it has been for sale for 2 months.

The big hurdle is talking someone who wants to cash out into carrying paper for 4-5 years, but your purchase price will almost always be higher than your competition!

That is true once you are established, but the reality is that a bank is not going to give a new face a big loan without having some assurances even if the deal looks good on paper.

page=5Bonus for the weekend, my collection for starters (read the comments too, and then if you like the author, go check out what else they wrote): - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/stages-of-investing/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/newbies-learn-real-estate-investing/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/5-ways-to-know-youre-not-ready-to-invest/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/ideal-vs-desperate-investor/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/how-much-to-offer-property/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/hazardous-attitudes-of-investors/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/05/31/21-traits-scammy-real-estate-investment-guru/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/youre-not-cut-out-to-be-real-estate-investor/ - https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/questions-new-investors-should-ask/If that's not enough, ping me and I'll give you a whole collection of blogs and podcasts to follow.Bonus 2: 1) Read at least one hour per day every single day.2) Remember the quote by Jim Rohn "You are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with."3) Check for toilet paper before sitting down.

On paper it seems great, I'd just be 110% confident in your figures.