Finally, talk to a lawyer that specializes in construction and real estate law for advice. 

You need a lawyer to structure the transfer properly to avoid a gain.   

find a realtor/lawyer to do it for a flat fee.   

Btw, we are absentee owners living outside of the country.After much back and forth with their lawyers; we decided not to put up a defense and just pay with they are asking about $8500( $2200 hoa and the rest being legal fees).

To me it represents a very simplistic and discrete point of analysis.

Get a realtor or lawyer to present the contract and at settlement the lawyer will basically take the check minus the lien (send to the gas company) and the rest goes to the owner --- so if you pay 20k she'll end up with $3000Now how are you planning on purchasing?

A good real estate lawyer could answer that for you in less than an hour.

How to I gain more confidence in representing a buyer or seller?

It's not recognized in New York state but the right lawyer can guide you.

Talk to your lawyer about your specific situation but generally the jurisdiction of your fund will be a natural result of the structure you choose and where you and your investors are located (in some industries it might be focused on a global hot spot for the industry).