If you want to know what the place looks like, use the Fastsnap photo service (http://www.fastsnap.com). They have a network of photographers in 8 states and you can send someone to the property to get a set of digital photos. Then you can see for yourself. They're cheap and fast!

Fujitsu makes a great line of scanners. These are medium to heavy duty with document feeders and duplex scanning, i.e., both sides of the paper are scanned at the same time as the page is pulled through the feeder. These scanners will set you back around $5000, but, tf you have any serious volume to...