I used to be journalist/author, and maybe someday I will be again, but right now I am getting interested in investing and paying the bills with rental income.

A PR might have the authority to sell the property, but there should be some legal documentation authorizing that.

We printed 100s of checks per week and authorized every transaction via phone.

This means that labor prices in general are low (more supply than demand), and also means that smart contractors recognize an opportunity like working for a busy investor.Milwaukee is completely opposite.

Glenn, excellent rehab and great job on recognizing "green homes" as a marketing niche.

I had a 'one time signing authorization' is

However, if it's simply an option to purchase as a given fixed price then I won't have to recognize the sale (for tax purposes) until they actually buy the house.

It might be foolish for others to follow advice simply because someone wrote more about a question as if they are speaking with some authority on the matter.

Get information from text books, official government sites, RE materials approved by your state RE commission and not gurus or authors who sell RE books, thats the safest way to ensure you don't learn bad stuff and then have to relearn or worse, get in trouble. :)

Psychologically, recognize that you are not raiding your 401K, but effectively investing it in terrific undervalued cash-flowing assets, and you will use the cash flow from those assets to replenish the 401K.