“House #1 was headed to REO land early in 2007. It was listed for 6 plus months at $679,000 and expired in February 2007”
That seems like a smoking gun – this transaction looks fraudulent. If the buyer walks soon, he has probably pocketed a good kick back. He helped the seller sell the property to Wells for $729,000! Deserves a kick back of $100K for the hard work.