I am allowed to keep money for damages, such as having to advertise again.

Generally Oak roots don't cause damage to foundations and pipes.

Hence they will effectively outbid the investors who focus on cash flow as the determiner of value.If investors want to invest in such areas cash flow is not a good measure.

I've read advice before that said to use a line like "I usually use $10 as consideration to make this purchase contract binding" or something to that effect.

You can also set a thread to be one you are interested in or set other threads to ignore.The effect on the MF site is I can focus on threads that I have determined are of interest and I can see if someone is posting a reply to a specific comment I made.

I would want to advertise effectively the same spec property at a price that was just below most of the other ads.

The problem is that thieves are doing thousands of dollars worth of damage for a few hundred dollars.This is happening all over the country.

They were effectively outbidding people with more experience like yourself.I for one am happy that the dumb money has largely left the market.

Check the state regulations concerning HOAs.I know that in one state where I purchased a new condo there is a law (about 5 years old now) that requires there to be a reserve fund set up and the costs of all items to be estimated over their effective life.

How many are effective is a different question.I have done an a lot of business without a website.