An entity will need to be done pretty soon if you have anything to lose.Always remember to do the math analysis and try to look at the prospective property or at least have a clause in the sales contract that allows you some time (usually about 15 days) to make a detailed inspection and possibly back out of the deal without a penalty that will hurt you too much.  

@Jim Carson, Never say never but a 50% depreciated national market isn't usually part of the normal real estate cycle.  

With that said, the declaration would note at what point the developer needs to turn over control to the owners - usually it's when 75% of the units are sold.

That does usually mean you'd have to share profits but it is a great way to learn the process from those who have been around the block so to speak.

I usually buy huge project houses so the amount of work in not an issue.Would like to hear about your experiences or suggestions. 

I don't want to lose a deal because I am trying to get an extra 10K off but just wanted your thoughts. 

Heres what i did, and i could have took the long way and i havent had any deals yet but ill break down my trial and error and the method i feel will work best for me.first, i searched zillow for homes that are selling for low cost, found the owners and mailed yellow letters of course-the problem with this is, a lot of these homes still have loans on them and probably bank owned already, the owner still lives there, theres already a realtor on the job, just way too many obstacles, i dont expect to get any calls from those letters but you have to start somewhere.next, i started searching on auction sites for homes that did not go up for auction yet or the auction expired-again, the problem with this is the homes are 9/10 bank owned. while some of them are foreclosures theres still extra loops to jump through.I considered buying lists of vacant homes and stuff but i am the most frugal person you will ever meet lol, its not that i cant afford to buy a list, its just that i know theres a different way and plus whoever made those list had to have someone else generating that list for them.

Just in case you don't know,  right of redemption means that the owner that was foreclosed on has a certain period of time usually a year to come back and claim the property, which almost never happens but there is a possibility for them to do so.

I usually look at the age of the roof, hot water heater,  furnace, etc.

They want a chunk of cash to buy a beach house or something but they also like to hold a smallish note for extra income.