I believe I am to be announced the February speaker.

Let’s start with officially classifying some of the terms associated with the valuation process.

They have also pursed another offer even though my contract is not officially terminated.How can I take action to keep my contract?

Put it in a high yield savings account earning around 1.75%+ interest with zero risk while you learn all you can.Then use your $500k once you've educated yourself and picked out a strategy that aligns with your interests/goals.Also make sure you are very cautious of people reaching out to you with "deals" and "opportunities" now that you announced having $500k cash on a public forum as there will be people who would love to spend (not invest) it.

As far as renting out a portion, ensure that everything is official and on paper.

Put it in a high yield savings account earning around 1.75%+ interest with zero risk while you learn all you can.Then use your $30k once you've educated yourself and picked out a strategy that aligns with your interests/goals.Also make sure you are very cautious of people reaching out to you with "deals" and "opportunities" now that you announced having $30k cash on a public forum as there will be people who would love to spend (not invest) it.

We then contacted the seller directly and had a conference call with hubzu who filed a official complaint on our behalf.....today they relisted the property for sale,  we still have not heard the results of the investigation. 

I hate to be pessimistic, but the thing you have in writing says you have to pay the $50.Someone on the phone told you not to, but there’s no written documentation of that, or that the person who told you it had the authority to say it, that what they told you was the official and correct policy, etc.I suppose a good compromise would be to email them and ask for written (emailed reply) confirmation that you can ignore that invoice, that it was sent out in error, and that you should not pay it.My guess would be that no one will respond to your email, which to me would mean they’d be unwilling to give you written confirmation that you should ignore the invoice, which would mean you’d probably want to pay it at that point (in my opinion).It’s completely up to you, but that would be my thoughts on how to handle it.Kind of ridiculous of course that you’d even have to apply this kind of thinking to $50, but when the City has the power to attach a lien to your property I think it’s worth being a little paranoid.

If they officially decline the claim, run it by an attorney, get a price from the attorney and decide if it's worth your trouble.

It is probably too early to see what will be available come April when we close on Nebraska.... leading into my next question: For us closing in April, I would start making official offers after close?