hello my name is mike i have been watching a property for some time now and just heard about wholesaling here are some of the detailsiam in illinois, the property is in cook county illinois the owner is in jail for 25 years he has someone as his power of attorney he property has been vacant and is in my opinion a knockdown its terrible the taxes were sold to a tax buyer in 2010 and then sold in 2011, 2012 and 2013 have not been paid there is a lein from the village for 1500 i contacted the owner in prison via letter im sure he will sell to me for really any amount my question is how can i make this a good deal?

It just goes to show the power of REI, that someone can buy off MLS, use a realtor, and still be as successful as you have. 

There's nothing like flying an airplane and then looking for the manual.At least you know that you the caller is not the person in charge, hence can't sell you the property.That person will have "standing" with sufficient capacity, powers and authority to transact. 

The power of BP!

So we waited until Monday for the repair, and in the meantime I shut off water, gas and electricity for that hot water heater (yes, a power vent unit needs electricity too).

Scraping with the spud scraper mentioned above is one method or you can rent a power scrapper or scarifier and get it done quick.

@Kyle MyersI never suggest cashing out retirement funds especially Roth IRA funds because of the power of compounding since all gains grow tax free in the case of a Roth IRA. 

If I can spot the power meter socket the color tag on there will tell me the status of the power, I can also check the water meter from the curb to see if that's on.

I'm curious to hear anyone's experiences with buying a house designated as a "recreational cabin" and bringing power/water/septic to it.

The power of financing allows you to own $1M property with only $250,000!