I'm in the beginning stages of finding my first flip (Chicago area) and am looking for different financing options.  

I'd put another ad stating that your ad was hijacked and is no longer for rent, that anyone who made arrangements with someone else about the property should report it/them to the police.

Then I view them and decide which of the two needs to be inspected and progressed to the next stage.

I intend to compensate, but I want to know what other ppl have done in the past in the early stages when they are requesting several comps with no actual deal yet.Michael Seeker 

Luckily my back ground is construction and have been negotiating contracts, SOW and COI for the past 25 years and have learned some things the hard way.I have a few calls into agents and sounds like there are a few policies needed depending on the stage your in.

And, make sure you are not putting any of your dollars into their pockets at any stage. 

If they filed and were dismissed, they certainly know it is an option.I think from my observations of clients we have worked with that have gotten into second lien investments there is a tad of stage fright in moving forward full force with FC.

As to steps if it has been on the market for so long It should be easy to arrange a showing. 

I have seen it too many times where the general contractor and/or the project are not listed and the insurance companies try to wiggle out of payment because it was for a project or arrangement they were not aware of. 

At this stage I do have some cautions about some of the markets you mentioned.