Would you get creative with financing in the DC area, or would you play it safe and invest back in a college town understanding that your physical visits will be limited?

Obviously need to verify lien numbers but wondered at first glance if there were any creative owner finance options for selling when seller is in this deep?

It takes a lot of homework to get prepared.

Cash is king, for sure, but you may have to be more creative.

I strongly suggest you read the bigger pockets beginners guide as it covers all of the basics of financing, and the more crazy and creative methods are discussed in multiple podcasts, Blogs, and forum posts.

There will be an escrow or attorney that will prepare the deed and will disperse their fundsIf it's a great deal at $10K buy it today for $10K.

This is the case with both listed and unlisted properties.Any decent agent is going to ask for proof of funds, so you should be prepared to provide this.Having a buyers list certainly helps but it's definitely much less important than finding a great deal.

I'm not familiar with the company you mentioned so I can't comment with authority, but I suggest you do complete due diligence in anyone you hire to do title searches for you and you should always be prepared to bear the losses in the event of a title mistake.  

We've put a 60-day notice in our leases for the last few years as we prefer the extra time to prepare for a turnover.

They are internet based so if you work with them, you have to be prepared to be technology-savvy enough to scan documents and upload them to their secure portal.