For example, in Georgia, if the decedent died more than 7 years ago, it's possible to do probate with affidavits by other relatives, close friends, who can affirm that there are no other relatives. 

A jurat, also known as a verification upon oath or affirmation, is a form of notarization in which the affiant appears before a notary, swears to the truth of the contents of the document, and signs the document in front of the notary.

I also get re-affirmed that I'm on the right path.

There is nothing worse than taking no affirmative action.

I'm not one to split hairs over a couple of hundred of dollars, but this amount seems high, but I also don't know if this is the cost of doing business for a loan amount as low as mine as not all lenders can/will lend at my mortgage amount (or so I'm told). 

Splitting hairs a bit.

Is the local RE market as hair-on-fire crazy as Greater Seattle?

@Curtis Bowery, not to split hairs, but I would consider 6 years medium term.

For those newer to the space make sure to do plenty of die diligence on assets as over the past several months there has been an above average amount of assets out there that have a lot of hair which I would not recommend and some even hold negative value.There are still decent assets out there as well, but make sure you pick through the bad to find the good.

I figure that's a fair buffer (the 0% appreciation/rent increase) but most have sub $100 cash flow if not a hair negative.