Unfortunately the day we were supposed to fly out to Europe we received word that my wife's mother was in intensive care in Mumbai, so we headed there/here instead and are still here helping her recover.

The PMI is very hard to get out of any time soon without a refi based on equity or additional cash.In other words, FHA loans are among the worst for non-owner occupants from a financial perspective.  

All I did was draft a quick little word doc letter explaining it and then sign and send it to them.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

The banks / underwriters want to see proof of every bill / payment, no exception and unfortunately your word isn't bond.

I will get great use from the key word searches.

In other words, are you sure you can rebuild for $200K?

However you want to word it.

In other words, if you were facing foreclosure, curious about short sales, or just wanted to sell without a Realtor, what searches would you run to learn more about those topics?

In other words, if in an auctioned property where the buyer is responsible for the U&O, and one is received soon after closing, can that same U&O be "used" again after the rehab when I resell the property a short time later?