It wouldn't hurt to have your insurance company check to see if the individual who started the fire has any insurance policies that can be billed for the damages.

i don't want to get too political, but unfortunately, business is politics...my biggest complaint owning apartments was how the government would support tenants til death and shun the landlords...have had several code violations properties, where i fix everything, but tenants do the damage again, and we go back to environmental court with the code inspector..even when i have pics and proof, it's still an expensive pain lawyering up when the government provides free attorneys to tenants..i guess i don't have it as bad as others...in some states it takes months to evict, and in others if the tenants don't pay the city water bill, the government can lien your property...all this does is put more pressure on landlords and take responsibilty off of tenants..to me, that is a huge pain!

:I'm also contemplating weather to skip the RE license or i should go straight to broker's license. i heard that test is harder.Unless you majored or minored in Real Estate, you won't be able to test for the Broker's exam without 2 years experience working as an agent for much longer.http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/2012releases/ab1718From what I understand, the new law goes in to effect on 1/1/13.

What does the contract say about damages that the buyer is entitled to if the seller defaults?

Simple Example:8 unit property in secondary market$30,500 NOIMarket Cap 8%Value = $380,000Estimated Deferred Maintenance = $20,000 (Siding and a little work on the roof)The work hasn't been done because the current owner feels it has no effect on the occupancy rate.

In many areas, tenants can collect double or triple damages if you improperly withhold security deposits.

I sent an email, as that's been the most effective way to communicate with him in the past.When I hadn't heard anything for a week, I called his office to confirm he received my email. his paralegal said he did get it and was working on the file.

It wont negatively effect their credit but it should shoot your credit to the moon.

Simple, effective and works well.

You could write in your offer something to the effect of "This is a cash offer but Buyer reserves the right to use transactional funding and buyer agrees to pay $x per diem for buyer delays only beyond the agreed upon close of escrow date"