.- Non traditional methods for payments could be requested like Zelle, Cashapp, Venmo etc.Here are few tips which can help you prevent a scam:- Check the public records of the property in your local county and see if the owner's name matches to the person you are talking to.- Ask if they have office and look up the business.- Check if the property is currently listed for rent or sale on multiple places by different people.

Also, when I go online and look at the auditor's website, more often than not, I pull up the permitting records, and there are none, despite the fact that there are new windows, roofs, porches, and siding. 

There are groups that have track records dating back to the 80s and 90s, with billions of assets under management, but never market themselves.

not a house inspection or anything, just a person with their cell phone given your specific instructions, for example, during rehab project:drive up to the driveway, take pictures of the front and sides to see the lawn worksee signs that the building materials are properly disposed of, record a videosee signs the contractors are workingor prior to purchase of a property:take a 360-degree video of the propertygo to the property at 9 am, 3 pm, or 9 pm to see the neighborhood situationI've seen horror stories where the contractors have not worked on the project for weeks without the owner knowing, or real estate agents not telling the whole story about the neighborhood, I wonder if this gut check service is something you would use?

IF he were to rent separately, the upstairs studio would be listed for $1,400 a month and the downstairs 2BD 1 Bath would be listed for $2,100.

We could not find any additional records of the basement being properly finished.If you can provide any further building records in regards to the basement being properly finished the Town could look into those.I tried to call the code official who sent me the email a few times and didn't get a reply. 

The owner of a building is public record, but I don't think I would volunteer that information. 

Sellers' records showed the property as 7 acres and marketed the land as 7 acres for almost a year.

It's not super easy as you have to keep detailed records of the hours, but definitely doable. 

Since the note itself is not public record, the only people who will know you own the property will be the trustee (ie a bank or Chicago Title Land Trust), your attorney, and the mortgage holder.