http://www.builddirect.com/ especially their marble/granite/slate prices....kitchen cabinets....a friend of mine went to lowes, special ordered the cabinets and then canceled the order and they gave her an extra 25% off because of the slumping sales....for equipment try out the pawn shops or again, networking....hubby gets top name stuff from a certain big box store ...he gets the stuff below cost.

Can't beat that... and yes I happen to have an extra Basic Appraisal Procedures book I'm not using;).)

Since the tenant's water/sewer bill will be lower due to the septic, is that an opportunity to jack up the rent and offset the extra costs of maintaining the septic system?

If the rentals get badly looked after by the tenants then there is extra work for their firm with the rehabbing to get the properties rent ready ; I have had continued 100% problems with all my tenants with this, and the profits have vanished.

I've been using a licensed contractor when doing projects, but how does one pull permits when you use a Project manager?

Find better deals where you can spend an extra 10-15% for insured contractors.

Everything was permitted according to city codes.

I think the only thing it needs is some curtains on that window to soften up the space.Without buying any extra furniture I would just do some curtains to show off those 3 set of windows

Because it is the government, there is an extra dimension involved - fraud and criminal charges.The consideration the seller gives is a reduced price and/or interest rate.

And, since a contract is (more or less) offer, acceptance, and consideration - it is theoretically possible to write contract terms on the check such as writing (above the line on which you write the recipient's name) something like the following: "Acceptance of this check constitutes [owner's] agreement to assign xyz lien to John Doe in exchange for the pruchase price of $X" You could also write that again on the back to make extra sure....