I do give advice frequently, but I try to be a straight shooter and not give advice if I am uncertain. 

So i would like to have all my resources ahead of time before anything.

I've learned I need to be in the middle, to get ahead of some issues before finding out about them in the end.

Real estate is a great investment tool to get ahead and set yourself up for a great retirement.

I've read through everything on this thread and just want to offer my genuine advice having been working through our project for almost a year and a half and being a few steps ahead of you, please don't take any of this as negative, my intent is to be helpful.

@Michael Cabaña Perhaps you can consider Seller Financing or Subject 2, though I would suggest doing more research on it before jumping straight in.

I do recall that plenty of neighbors had a lot of interest in purchasing for themselves, but did not, and a lot of them telling me I was "crazy" for over-paying by at least "$200,000", but I was young, I knew I had years ahead of me - or at least I felt that way - and I just saw it as an opportunity I'd regret if I didn't seize it!

Houston Real Estate Highlights in October:-Single-family home sales fell for the second time in 2021, down 5.2 percent with 8,703 units sold versus 9,183 in October 2020;-The Days on Market (DOM) figure for single-family homes rolled back from 48 to 32;-Total property sales fell 3.1 percent with 10,756 units sold;-Total dollar volume rose 9.9 percent to $3.8 billion;-The single-family average price increased 13.1 percent to $377,631; -The single-family median price rose 14.7 percent to $305,000; -Single-family homes months of inventory registered a 1.8-months supply, down from 2.3 months year-over-year and below the national inventory of 2.4 months;-On a year-to-date basis, single-family homes sales are running 12.9 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace and 21.6 percent ahead of 2019.

Bumping up to the $115K-$140K price range would result in plenty more options in all the previously mentioned areas.Have any of the deals brought to you been off-market, or are they all straight from the MLS?

@Scott M. looking into fighting it - it is a bit more complicated than a straight yes/no answer as you can imagine.