I don't doubt that the market can still grow, however lots of sellers are capitalizing on it now while mortgage rates are super low and inventory is even lower.Aside from the normal charges when selling (commissions/attorney/escrow/title fees as you mentioned) there are some others, major ones being transfer taxes which are: New York City Real Property Transfer Tax = 1% of purchase price if $500,000 or less and 1.425% if more than $500,000.New York State Transfer Tax = .4% of the purchase price Some buildings also have what's called a "flip tax" which is a pre-determined percentage of the purchase price that's paid at closing...each building is different in this case.

You hired a contractor who doesn't know what he's doing, or forgot to include something important and will come to you with a change order/increase request when he realizes.3.Your signed contract needs to include a complete scope of work, and a predetermined rate for unexpected but needed extra work. i.e.

But that's not what I am complaining about, I am complaining about LA putting properties on the MLS knowing there is only one pre-determined buyer they will let in.

Do some deals as lease options, keeping your numbers small and having a predetermined profitability, so that as you review deals, you can easily see what works and does not.

Otherwise this becomes a crap sandwich for you.Rather than an option, it would be my preference to buy property now, sub-2, get authorization of release of info so you can communicate with lender/servicer, and give seller a pre-determine time to remain in possession while you work your checklist of items to complete, starting with yard and exterior house renovation. 

That way the seller keeps the property on the market, but you have the right to purchase the property at the agreed upon price for a predetermined period of time.  

This plus how you predetermined the exit strategy and buy outs when you entered the agreement, will determine what you will get.  

The only thing I remember reading about LY, was that there is no pre-determined amount of time to return a security deposit, unless there's a dispute of some kind and then it's between 30-60 days.

This means you'd lease a multi-family property (which you may potentially then sub-lease for a little cash flow) with an option to buy at a predetermined price at a predetermined time.

You have the age-old issue about "who owes what" in a scenario where you did research labor without a contract and pre-determined terms.