I used to live in White Plains, and I definitely know what you're talking about.

There is definitely more accountability and just plain stability when using a contractor that expects to be paid upon completion.  

Kin,To evualte  a lot, I look at the FMV, is it a buildable lot, check size, is it in a flood way or flood plain?

I have built in flood plains, but not sure what you mean by "AE"

He received a preferential owner-occupant loan, and he's supposed to live there for a year, plain and simple.

They are in following order left to right:30X15(on fridge), 15X30(next to fridge), 18x20(over microwave, stove), 36x30 (next to mircowave), reusing previous crown molding thats about 10ft long.These are stock plain oak unpainted cabinets from Home Depot.

The half-moon one that spins right out would be OK though if you wanted to go with more than plain shelving.

FOLKS remember 50% of all these homes come from Failed landlords.. plain and simple that's a fact..

But it I guess something like the original example (10 year note, $100,000, 8%, sold after one year for $10,000), this note would be returning about 150% interest.If you were to just plain buy the note from the current lienholder (this happens all the time), you would continue to collect the payments from the original borrower.

IF you have any of the original laminate left over, have a licensed flooring contractor remove and replace the affected boards.If you don't have any available boards, perhaps you can harvest some laminate from a closet or other area that is not in plain sight.Finally, if neither of those options are viable, perhaps you can call to your local flooring dealers.