There have been several times when we have given back the EM when we were entitled to keep it...in all cases, the buyers were completely transparent with their situation and made a good faith effort to close.

If there is not yet a separation and/or custody agreement in-place and/or there is less than 2-years remaining on the present mortgage, you will need to make a decision on whether you can make this happen, or if it is worth the effort.

In my efforts I've come across a great opportunity, however don't really have a strong grasp on the contract portion of this.

The new 150 credit hour requirement was nothing more than an extra hoop to jump through - don't spend the money and effort on something that won't benefit you once you're in the industry you want. 

As a newbe to real estate investing, I see different types of homes (Brick, Frame, etc.) being sold and I am not sure what are the differences between them and which types of homes should I be concentrating my efforts in purchasing.

Another thing to consider is that some projects can and should be disqualified because they either return too few dollars relative to the amount of effort you'd need to spend on them or the beginning negative cash flows are large, which puts a lot of value at risk relative to the upside later in the project.

Servicing the wells will require thousands of trucks and drivers to stay even after the drilling is done, but that is assuming that it is still profitable enough to run the wells.Good point Jerry, the towns do go through boom bust cycles so it might be worth the effort to find a town that has not begun the up swing yet or in the early stages.

Well let's think about this:(all cost numbers)Five sheets of (let's say) T-111 and one-to-grow-on = $210.Six sheets of something nice = $1000.16 labor hours = $400. to $800.Misc. materials = $50.So quoted price excluding paint: $1200. to $3000.Painting an 1100 foot house properly = at least $2000.I would be questioning that $1400. number too - wondering what they were going to cheat me out of in their effort to turn a profit.

Also, I put in a lot of time and effort to make this deal possible.

Its consistent with the long range plan, and I believe the city would actually support such an effort.