you assure your investors with paperwork collateralizing their money and with showing them your experience in whatever avenue of real estate you are putting their money. 

After talking with an escrow officer there, she assured me that the contract I had would work out just fine, and once it's signed we can open up escrow with an earnest money deposit and go from there.

It isn't beyond the realm of possibility.That is why I recommend seeking out a licensed attorney in his jurisdiction for an initial consultation; consultations that are often free, and will most assuredly absolve these concerns within the first few minutes of conversation.

It may be a couple years before you buy your first property, but don't let that get you down.Thanks for the re-assurance @Sergey Tkachev!

In the 5 DAY SALE, people can have some assurance what they are bidding on is in good condition, as well as looking good.

As a Agent/Investor I can assure everyone here from experience that short sales are not really deals, there over priced and are a big waste of time.

I would not recommend that unless you have a trusted person who can assure you that the home is in the condition you think it is in.

I looked at a place in Pittsburgh decent neighborhood seemed to be a pretty good wholesale deal listed at 29900 from pic's when I got there probably a few squatters living there at the time destroyed a lot mostly cosmetic told wholesaler would not be interested in the property at that price in that condition offered 20000 he responded if I can renegotiate I might get 21 or 22 thousand I told him 20000 is my number and he assured me squatters would not be an issue 2 weeks go by he calls yesterday and tells me I can have it for 20000 I go back over to property only to see that there have been squatters in the house also 2 windows broken that were not broken before house is dirtier than before and a slight bit of more damage than before I give him a call told him I offered the price I felt comfortable with based on the condition of what the property was in.

I am also the unit's Information Assurance Security Officer (see: computer guy) and Audio Engineer (see: sound guy).

Given these disclosures directly in the ICX listing, I would guess a) the property has been on the market for some time {and will continue to be on the market for more time} and b) someone else has looked at the property and, based on their findings, the Vendor had to disclose the non-permitted renovations.In analysing this property, I would do the following:1) until there is a written assurance from the City that the current operating licence can be amended to reflect the actual use of the property, I would evaluate the property with the revenue from only the 8 licensed units.2) get in writing from the City inspectors what work-orders are outstanding on the property and/or what work they will require to be completed when the property changes hands;3) find out how many days the property has been on the market and how much interest there has been  to-date.