I am also in my mid 40's so I need to ask myself what my investment goals are?

(We will be stationed here for a couple more years.)Eventually my goal is to have several rentals to keep a steady cash flow going and to do flips on the side.

If you'd like to discuss the city in further details and share some of your specific goals, I'd be happy to help--PM me. 

You can contact him directly and try to work out some sort of deal to get the lien released prior to close, but if he knows you're going to close he has little incentive to cooperate and it sounds like he knows the game better than you do.

Have clearly defined investment criteria that suits your goals (e.g. target cash flow return, value-add opportunities, equity appreciation resulting from value-add, etc.)3.

Therefore, I may pay less attention to the appraised value, but that's because my goal is cash-flow. 

It was an easy process and I was able to interview my CPA several times and check her references prior to going under contract with her. 

Overall, for the amount of money you have, and your goal, I'd personally recommend looking into flipping, until you can save up more capital. 

I'm also learning to do bookkeeping for a friend's company.My broad goal for real estate investing is to earn enough money to be financially independent.

What are your goals?