I understand there is so much to learn and understand.

You can have an assessment go down but the mill rate for the city or county budget go up thereby increasing your property tax bill.If the assessment is 95,000 the taxes shouldn't be that big.Why not project out the worst case scenario for your projected hold time and base your offer price off of that.If you want to dispute taxes there are organizations that do this but since your property is so small you might want to take it on yourself.http://www.aptcnet.com/articles.html

I mean, signing a simple assignment contract, doesnt state how soon he needs to close, or how serious he is, so how do I make sure that I collect some kind of deposit/earnest money, and make him pay within a reasonable time, if the assignment contract only requires a signature?

If your younger and have time on your side and are looking for a quick profit check out LVS, you can play this one pretty good with timing but watch the charts and news that comes out because it is also volatile.For the time, I would actually stay away from tech stocks, depsite what has been happening with the IPO's, maybe look again at tech stocks after the third quarter results come out.I personally don't like banking stocks but BofA is so low it is somewhat tempting.

Likewise with other banks that I've bought many deals from.Likewise, I probably have a better handle than most on selling to FHA buyers, just because I've done it so many times and because the broker I work with is so knowledgeable.But, just like everyone else, it wasn't too long ago that I didn't know any of this stuff, so you shouldn't let it stop you from doing deals!

This is so crucial I can't even begin to explain.

Again I think the $1250 in rent is a little light - it may end up being $1350 ish.Also, the housing market is so solid in Bismarck that there aren't any great deals like there are in bigger cities.

Also, since rapport is so important….Is it a good idea to try to build rapport with an heir by asking about their relative who died?

Any input or advice is so appreciated.

One of the reasons of doing RE is so I can be my own boss.