What you are going through is not uncommon in a very competitive single family flip market like the one you live in. 

I notice it's not uncommon for a stupid post to get votes, even if the content of the post is entirely incorrect.

I would bet the OP was expecting for the transaction to be under the table, all cash, no taxes, no insurance, no W9, no reporting -- which is not that uncommon in LA.

Yeah mr Wybo would be my first attempt as he likely knows a couple.All lawyers are different, employment lawyers are not uncommon to want money up front as its very unlikely they will win, so they try to squeeze out all those pennies ASAP.

I also found in my hunt for SFRs that it is not uncommon that there is no basement...

In my early days it was not uncommon for me to jump on a plane and fly to were ever my buyer or seller was.. and that was me as a commissioned agent..

It's not uncommon for banks to hold onto houses for up to 5 years maybe more.

It is not an uncommon strategy. 

In many cases this has been deferred and not uncommon to see 20-30K in immediate tree removal due to regular maintenance not being done on your typical 2-3 year intervals.Managers usually do a terrible job mowing as a complete service.  

It's not uncommon for rentals in Rochester to be owned by out of state or international investors.