San Bernardino has a high crime rate compared to many of the bordering cities. 

We try to keep a lot of our properties in the borders.

I'm not an attorney or accountant so you both should talk to cross-border ones to make sure you each do what is best for your specific situation. 

Is there a tile border or some other wood treatment that I could use to make a nice-looking transition between the oak flooring and the new laminate?

Have you looked a bit outside the borders such as the Irving park areas?

Title is saying property is transferred at the time of recording and that a deceased person cannot transfer property.

I did find out from someone who was a family member of the deceased owner that a few years ago when we had some crazy weather and flooding one of the basement walls of the property caved in.

What I mean is the more downtown you go, the more crime, problems etc, the more you go near the borders, the more you get families, young professionals, responsible people.

The rent is down at present due to economy, Swine flu scares, and fear of Border drug wars(which Cancun is several thousand miles away from).

So the owner did not register the change of title when he bought it a decade earlier from a now deceased person.