The middle part of the city, which includes downtown, Lake Merritt, and stretching all the way to the Oakland hills, is actually quite nice with a lot of beautiful neighborhoods.I understand the SF hipsters have discovered Oakland and are starting to move there because it's less expensive than SF.

;-)I recently discovered that in PA it is illegal to own a hedgehog as a pet...but legal to own a giraffe!

Regarding title insurance, I just discovered that auction.com has provided a title insurance commitment letter with exclusions.

Los Angeles, I'm discovering, is a tough market as it is and I'm coming into it (this past year) at a time when houses are selling mere days after they're listed and at prices higher than asking.

So if you are investing in cheap Midwest properties and lets says the water bill is 6 months behind, the property owner is responsible (intimately) for ensuring payment, and this would not show on title search but as soon as title transfer the utilities company discovers this and sends you the new owner a bill.

Just one follow up.... since the estoppel is sent following acceptance of my offer, what happens if I discover new information as a result of the estoppel?  

I was like this should work well, so when I asked for proof of funds, my title company calls me back what the **LL are you doing this guy owns 200 houses free and clear and buys 10 houses a month cash.

I have sent letters and am trying to contact the absentee owner through other means, trying to buy the property outright before then, but no luck yet.I have discovered through research that the owner's husband (and presumably the owner, if they file jointly) has a lien against him for 2013 income taxes in Ohio. 

I'm excited anand greatful for discovering bp :)Cristal 

After posting a question in another forum about potential property specs I was looking at I discovered that some of my original expectations were not realistic at all.