Nice straight edge, lots of savings.

But if your straight up what is anyone going to sue you for?

., and from what I can see far more complex than our (what I would consider) very straight forward fcl. sale laws and tax sale laws.Example buy a tax sale in CA OR WA and it wipes out each and every encumbrance bar none except IRS liens.. which fall off in 6 months.buy a Foreclosure and you wipe out anything that is junior except ad valorum tax's and Irs liens...from what I am learning here on BP its not like that in the mid west and east.so to that end invest a Grand and get a GOOD local attorney to give you an opinion paper on the subject..

One word of caution if you want to buy straight into an LLC is that you won't be able to get conventional financing.

An expensive lesson indeed, but one that has propelled me forward with wisdom.One of the main things I would recommend is to network with others (as Nicole W. said) and assemble a great team of people whom you can trust (RE agent, contractor, lawyer, possibly a prop. manager if you wish), as they can help keep you on the straight and narrow.

@Aaron Montague - I thought they had straight 10% investor loans, but a quick google showed all the references to that being older, like from 2011, so I guess it's changed.

And again, as Ned suggests, if your agent bypasses you on the next opportunity and goes straight to the investor, then that's not an agent you'll be doing business with again.

I'm interested in a similar development in CA and have searched the internet for this type of information, your journal as well as the conversation between everyone has got to be the most enlightening and straight-forward education I have found so far. 

I never assumed the owner mentioned a short sale, that seems to have come from you.Aside from that, a straight up purchase for $85k or so seems to be a reasonable solution.

They will drop the case.If you buy it straight out cash then yea, put it in an LLC and/or setup a credit line over it and/or buy a good liability policyDebt is a form of assets protection. take advantage of it!