I purchased a short sale recently and all they took was their king bed from the bedroom.

You can waste a lot of time looking at bad properties if you don't have a good handle on your calculations.2. find your competitive advantage- Snohomish and King County are full of investors, and to stand out you're going to need to play to your strengths.

There are a lot of good deals at different price points throughout the Seattle/King county area.

I'm an Illinois real estate attorney and have little knowledge of the real estate laws and customs of North Carolina.However, Cash is king and you should make sure you are covered/protected before you complete the transaction.First, yes complete an inspection if you want to and that can take as long as you can to have it completed.Next, although I may feel ok with giving the Seller's attorney my Earnest Money, I would not do the transaction unless a title company is involved as the escrow agent for the parties, takes/receives my payments, and can guarantee me clear title ownership.In Illinois, as a Seller's Attorney, I can be ready for a cash closing in about a week, subject to the time it will take to obtain a Plat of Survey, HOA documents, mortgage payoff letter and city inspections, and cleaning up any title exceptions, if any.  

They could at least suggest someone reliable, if they don't want to take jobs in King Co. 

Cashflow might be king, but cash is queen.

Cash flow will be even more king in the years to come.

@Kristin King Thank you!

I focus on the Fredericksburg area - Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and King George.For investing, I'm still undecided.

Martin Luther King, Jr.