I assume the title company contacts the mortgage company for a precise pay off amount.But how are you able to close on the house with an existing mortgage?

I can't say enough about how impressed I am by his analysis, charts and predictions.

However, investing in my local area is financially challenging.Eliott, I completely agree, and that's precisely why I'm reaching out for advice.

My attorney actually advised against me buying the property through an LLC and selling the LLC (precisely because it does not avoid me paying transfer taxes in IL).

Your description of the process is precisely what the lender would do to "come after" your assets.

So, if you're in the 25% marginal bracket and your state/local taxes are 9% (for example), you should keep aside 34% for taxes.That said, this is tremendously conservative, as your marginal rate will only apply to your highest amount of income (most income will be taxed at a lower rate as marginal rates are on a sliding scale) and you'll likely have deductions that will offset some of the income.So, if you set aside this amount, you should have some left over come tax time, but should also be good in a worst case situation.If you want to be more precise, fill out a 1040 with your actual income and deductions after each project and see where you stand.

For those bills that are non-static, you have to setup the auto-bill pay at that companies website portal, like a utility bill for example, so that it can auto-deduct the precise amount of the bill for that month... your checking account billpay feature wouldn't be able to know that non-static amount, but its perfect for your mortgage.

Keep in mind that these policies are drafted by sophisticated attorneys and drafters and typically have precise language and exclusions.

Plus, even if the precision is false, it doesn't sound to the seller like you are just making up a nice round number. 

And charting days on market per price range (not available but raw data is) is where one can see where market limits lie.