Rent out the soil: You can have organic growers locally who would like the extra land to grow their crops on your soil to make some more extra income and maybe some tasty food as well. hmmmmm spinach (maybe Popeye said this once)13.)

We already had a surveyor at the property and the engineer did the soil dig to test it.

Again, no bearing on who's represented.

If you combine this with down payment assistance, silent seconds, grants, and whatever other programs the borrower is eligible for, they can get into a home REAL easily and the lender isn't going to back out of the deal because they bear virtually no risk.

I'm a Realtor here in the Bay Area and am starting to prepare now.What are some strategies you're going to start implementing to leverage and bear market?

@Paul Vaughan whether they deposited or transferred the money or not, you agreed to pay the EMD as soon as you signed the contract, so the clearing of the money has no bearing.

If at any point the property owner pays off the overdue property taxes before the lien expires (period may vary by state), the county is the party that earns the interest.Properties that are owner-occupied (as indicated by a homestead exemption showing up on the annual tax bills) or have a mortgage are most likely to be bid on because they have a higher likelihood of being paid off either by the homeowner or the mortgagee (the lender); the homeowner probably doesn't want to lose his/her place of residence and the lender probably doesn't want to lose its investment.If no one has bid on a lien, there are likely issue(s) with the property that, in the eyes of bidders with investor mindsets, render the property valueless, for example:the property has no direct access (landlocked or waterlocked),the property is too small to be built on as-of-right per the municipality's zoning codes,the property is contaminated (a Phase I environmental report would scour records on the property to see if contamination is likely, and if so, a Phase II environmental report would be done and soil, etc. samples would be taken to confirm the contamination),the market fundamentals indicate little probability for profit given the level of risk, such as high vacancy rates, low rents, or slow sale/rental velocity,the property is in a "poor" location due to many of the types of things that turn off people looking for a home in which to live, such as high crime; poor or nonexistent infrastructure, such a streets, water & sewer, etc.; too rural/too urban; neighboring uses detrimental to the property's value, e.g. railroad, warehousing/industrial district, jail/prison, cemetery, etc.I hope that helps!

If it's going to be a bear, it might as well be a grizzly!

I'm curious what your end goal would be? Are

—In all criminal cases, contempt cases, and other cases filed pursuant to this chapter, if a party has sold, leased, or let real estate, the title to which was not in the party when it was offered for sale, lease, or letting, or such party has maintained an office bearing signs that real estate is for sale, lease, or rental thereat, or has advertised real estate for sale, lease, or rental, generally, or describing property, the title to which was not in such party at the time, it shall be a presumption that such party was acting or attempting to act as a real estate broker, and the burden of proof shall be upon him or her to show that he or she was not acting or attempting to act as a broker or sales associate.