Not to worry.Harry and his firm will take care of the necessary details.All John and Jane need do is to sign a few papers at settlement, and their new house is theirs to move into.The above scene is re-enacted hundreds of times a week all across the country.Most of the people who buy houses have little contact with financial institutions.The details of the mortgages and trust deeds are left to escrow companies, attorneys, real estate brokers.Housing consumers have only dim perceptions of the primary and secondary mortgage market.They don't really understand the effects of disintermediation on their qualifying for a new long term mortgage loan.Many times, especially when mortgage money is "tight", they are outraged at being disqualified for a loan; or at being required to pay as much as 25% down; or at having to pay 7 "points" at closing when the original application specified 3 points; or at having the interest rate jump a full percentage point, with the loan pay-back term being reduced to 25 years.Any or all the above manifestations of the tight money market were prevalent in the recent past, and could come back in the near future.The key is to be ready for them when they come, and to find ways to keep on keeping on as an entrepreneur, whether acting as a long term investor, a wheeler-dealer, a fixer upper specialist, a buyer or a seller.What about non-owner-occupants (investors and speculators) who are seeking to acquire single family houses for future profit?

It is valuable if you are dealing with traders and speculators like Niederhoffer or the like but these guys are not interested in the few million I could put to use.

Some might call that pure speculation.

Land SpeculationLand speculation is a risky form of investing.

Speculating, but under the circumstances this wasn't a clean deal, all acting in good faith.

However, rent you receive from real estate held for speculation or investment is not subject to SE tax.Notice what's missing?

Some proformas have no history, could be misleading or down right BS or at least pure speculation. 6.

Will update you when we have some more news.Seeing there was some speculation in the comments, I will clarify a few things.  

I tend to invest in lower income, blue collar areas that I expect to improve in value....income based speculation i guess.  

That is all speculative, though.