The largest hedge funds have been doing this for years and years.

Wall Street bankers are looking at low bonuses this year, hedge fund returns are flat and some buyers of high-end real estate from China, Russia and the Middle East are cutting back.

@Scott Groves, The intermediary you select will have their own exchange accounts where your funds will need to be held.  

Here's where I think there is a work around: if you do a ton of research and find what homes have sold for in a desirable area 10, 20, 30 years ago and see that the value has consistently appreciated then it's probably safe to say it will continue to go up.

The offer depends on what your desired profit from the deal is and what your end goal for the property is (flip, wholesale, hold). 

Plus if I can't get the funding the deal is dead anyway.

In its current condition only the 1st lien is in a position to recoup funds via foreclosure.

Currently my wife and I are debt free including credit cards and saved up a decent chuck of change for retirement, mutual funds, stocks, and too much into CDs(lucky only one year at 3%).

They usually have different funds that are made up of a mix of banking, real estate, communications, ect..

To acquire the property, the buyer will need only $702,000 in equity plus amounts sufficient to fund the seller' s replacement reserve, insurance and real estate tax escrows (such escrows are held by the lender for the borrower' s benefit).Would that mean you only need to come up with the $702,000 to purchase?