Go ahead and list right away if you want. 

Both of these guys are very trust worthy, so I'm not worried about anyone trying to take advantage of anyone, but you never know what can happen, so thats why I'd make sure to have an LLC or something similar created ahead of time. 

Go ahead and try to give a clearer picture of what you are offering, this way the person that is looking for what you can offer will be more inclined to reach out to you .

Say I went ahead and took out another HELOC on my Newport house and they allowed 90% of the appraised value ($650k), which would qualify me for $135k ($650*0.9=$585k - $450k).

If it saves you some time or labor cost then go ahead and tile over the tile.

But go ahead and submit your "best offer" then try and negotiate down from there, ha.

If I had funds already in place, I'd be inclined to make some pro-active replacements ahead of their failure, rather than having the replacements nickel-and-dime me to death.Thoughts?

I'm paying more than triple that but then, he has 50 staff, is leap and bounds ahead of where I am and you don't get a free handout from anyone at that level (I wouldn't expect one anyway!) 

if you guys need any more info ask away. thanks for your responses ahead of time.

Their site was revamped in the past 6 months and is way ahead of its competitors in look and feel.