If you are purchasing in a cheap market, you are in a market that historically appreciates less than inflation which implies in real dollars (inflation adjusted dollars) the RE is depreciating. 

Those of us not familiar with your Oregon contract don’t know what your contract says about 1) specific wording of your finance contingency or 2) the required procedure for  EM disputes.It does seem odd that your financing contingency didn’t “expire” more than 7 days prior to closing.What does your agent say.....Thayer should be intimately familiar with this.With a “termination agreement” that isn’t signed/agreed to by both parties, the contract seems to be limbo at this point.

If you could easily get a mortgage on a property at auction, the values would instantly inflate.

@Greg Scott Unfortunately I work the 20th 7p-7a, but odds are I’ll be free for the next one since nurses work three days a week!

So my question is what to do to take advantage of over-inflated markets while waiting for a correction?

Since our home is a custom rural property with no community services, it's an odd duck and we believe banks not loan on it. 

With a Sandwich LO, you don't really spend anything, since whatever money you use to get control of the property, you will be getting an inflated version of those same numbers with your contracts with the buyer/seller. 

These are my favorite questions.It's odd to me that a 1-bd house needs two bathrooms.

Renting has traditionally been seen as throwing money away, as many people also see homeownership as a financial investment in their future thanks to the popular belief that property will only ever rise in value, even if the recession of 2008 demonstrated otherwise.The reality is that allowing for inflation, house prices have increased by just 1% during the last century, representing an extremely poor return on investment, and one that has been easily outperformed by the stock markets and direct investment in businesses and hard assets.

I'd ask the agent for clarification, maybe they explained the fee in an odd way that convoluted what they were attempting to convey.