A closing occurs at the point in a real estate transaction when the title of the property is transferred from the seller to the buyer. 

When title is pulled the pending litigation will be discovered and there won't be a transfer of ownership until it's approved by the court, administrator, etc. 

@Greg H.The property is in Massachusetts so the process is much lengthier which is why we’re seeing more deed in lieu transactions.The transfer was directly to the Secretary of HUD, not to the bank.

If you read the conditions, the proposed transfer cannot violate the terms of the deed of trust... the 12 month occupancy as primary residence requirement is specifically mentioned.Further, the validity of transfers such as this require that the lender be given notice and the opportunity to review and approve the proposed transaction... which approximately 0% of BP users are doing.

For instance, for my first purchase, if I wanted to buy a duplex would I then, at any point, be able to transfer that duplex to an LLC if purchased with a mortgage?

We own another vacation rental currently where I manage the day to do, do the bookings, coordinate the cleaners/handymen etc and it takes a good chunk of time that I don't have to do for another property.   

., broker fees, transfer taxes, etc).I was in a similar situation with a rental and debated selling earlier this year.

You want to move up the 80/20 leverage curve from technician to investor/entrepreneur.In Bridgeport, CT and New Jersey the investment is about 10% of rents collected which frees you from taking resident phone calls, coordinating maintenance, leasing vacancies, accounting P&L's, conducting inspections and making property payments.Owners often times suffer from "death by 100 cuts" when having to handle all of these small items, missing opportunities to achieve bigger goals.

If you want to take control of the property without title transferring, to avoid the seller having to pay off the mortgage, you could do something like a lease option, where you make monthly payments to the owner in title (perhaps the same as the loan terms you discussed) and you are given the right to purchase the property any time in the future at a set price ($143,000).

We live in California, and are going to coordinate a trip to TX this fall to start meeting & networking with folks.