@Matt Fish, I have been involved in a deal that ended up with B2R financing, and the process was pretty smooth, if you ignore some hiccups.

I just need to make sure I get through this deal and don't lose the fish.

He told me he would sell the house and 10 acres for $150k and the lake and 110 acres seperatley for $199k and it's prime hunting, fishing and hiking land.

this actually happened with the obama administration years ago.these are what you are finding, troy. these houses are less than desirable and the bank, well frankly, " has bigger fish to fry". so these houses sit and sit and sit. get run down, and pretty soon, when the bank wakes up and realizes they have thousands of dollars in carrying costs invested in this house, they discover that they will never get anywhere near the amount that they have invested in the house back to them, so they " drop" the house. thats right, they write it off. they stop paying someone to check on it every 2 weeks, they stop paying someone to mow the lawn, etc. and they stop paying the taxes.my advice to you, call and ask the bank if they have " released the lien or mortgage" back to the original owner. some banks will tell you, others will not. then, call the local tax authority. ask how many years ago the last taxes were paid on the house and who paid them. if it was a bank, and they stopped paying the taxes, well, there is your first sign that the bank has dropped the house. they aren't going to keep paying the taxes on a house that they no longer want, are they?

A lot of people like having canals in the backyard for casual fishing and can be a peaceful environment when a patio is set up properly.

I have my own thoughts and have run some #'s but I'm just fishing for any advice.

If someone has a boat, ask them if they like fishing?

If there are two cables coming in to the box where the light *switch* is, and one cable coming in to the box where the light *fixture* is, then this is probably what you have.If the feed from the breaker panel runs to the light *fixture* first, you're probably in for fishing some new cable.  

At the level I'm at, a pm isn't worth it.I'm too small a fish for a pm.I'd sell first.

If you're fishing for contacts or the interest level of a friend and initiate, begin with a vague question and use the previous technique to continue or just move on.Information is POWER;  acquire as much as possible but give as little as reasonable.