Keep in mind that my only experience with witness protection is from the show "In Plain Sight," but as far as I know, if they are in witness protection, it's not something that is disclosed.

I won't mention that my first wife lived three doors down in highschool and how all the kids would sled down the hill through the woods to a pond, no I won't mention that, I'm just a hard nose investor guy (LOL).

The idea is that your contact with the foundation is on treated wood.

The US dollar is in the tank relative to the Canadian dollar and their housing prices are out of sight.

As others above have said, ask around and look around...Walk through other houses being sold in your area to get a feel for the types of cabinets (and colors) and the types of countertops (and colors) they are using.Luckily, if you stick with the most common stuff for the cabinets (natural wood finishes or darker cherry finishes) and the countertops (anything that looks like granite), you'll probably be alright.

Tylor,I'm originally from your neck of the woods, and will send you some contacts who might be good mentors.

I know the markets in this area very well due to a lot of research as a renter (I've lived here 2 years as well while attending school) and due to my interest in real estate which I plan to exercise post graduation, and this price seemed appropriate sight unseen.However, I inspected the half renovated section of the duplex today (with permission of course, since I had some friends who were interested) and was unpleasantly surprised.

These aren't tycoons, just people that got in over their head like I'm sure I would have if I had graduated 3-4 years ago before the crash and not had BP as a resource (hell I still could knock on wood).Jon said: "You should be able to find that [pending-foreclosure] in public records"How would I do this Jon?

It's a good way to accumulate some money that is kind of hidden away...out of sight, out of mind.

And that's a result of the American people being short-sighted.