Clear office, Sheriff’s office, and law firm associated literally didn’t provide any information. 

Disclaimer: I am a licensed real estate broker associate in Florida, but this is not legal or financial advice.

Explain your concerns about the property's flood zone status and see if they are willing to release your deposit or reduce the sale price to account for the potential risks and lower property values associated with it.While $5K isn't a trivial amount, sometimes avoiding a much bigger headache down the road is worth the loss.

I'm meeting with the alumni association next month to get a chapter set up in the Lowcountry. 

Every loan and bank will have its associated fees and cost as its the price to do business but if you see more leverage in tapping into existing equity that could very well be the case.

.• Networking & Local Groups:Engaging with local wholesalers and real estate investment associations can also lead to referrals for quality data sources.

Those are among the few degrees really necessary to work in their associated fields.

Local Real Estate Investor Associations (REIA's) also are a great place to network and find a mentor or someone to walk you through getting started.

It's a little rough with rates where they are right now for products like a DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) loan and the associated points you pay out for closing, but the bright side is that if a deal still works despite those rates - there's no reason not to lock it in.

Re-titling real estate can get expensive with the misc. transactional fees associated with the process + you are at risk of the lender triggering the due on sale clause if you don't plan on refinancing the real estate.