The brokerage firm is simply holding the funds. 

I simply want to get things rolling and a condo that makes my housing expense tolerable by renting out the other room seems to be my best option at this point.

Keep driving your neighborhood, locate properties you like, and, if you have the opportunity, simply ask one of the tenants, "Who do you call when there's a problem". 

Simply search "(City Name) Real Estate" and read the news articles from the past 3 years.

Wow that was great insight Jonathan thank you.My biggest concern is simply not having an income of reserve while going to school and capex or expenses putting me underwater. 

We were a small company simply operating on a deal by deal basis. 

@Ori SklootGreat post and simply just WOW.

Wow...I wish here in Cook County (Chicago) our court system would be this accessible where you could simply call into the clerk to say you were late or fax in personal requests to the judge.Here, defendants get 30 days to vacate a default judgement [almost] without question.

Once we hit the basement we saw foundation wall cracking as well as standing water from a recent rain and evidence of water seepage over many years.I did go to a very well-respected and well-known local Foundation specialists rather than an engineer simply because I knew one and I had less than 12 hours to make a decision on the property. 

I use PayPal, simply because I already had an account.