There's a complete discussion on this issue along with a treatise of the evidence along with this personal analysis here:

Newcorky.forumotion.com

It's the new Corky forum.

POE may have been the epicenter of everything Nick Bravo related for a while, but the forum is really where it's at if you want incisive Corky commentary.

This = his, being TomDavis.

he has been reported like eight hundred times

if he's been committing mortgage fraud, he's going to get busted

the best thing that came out of that forum visit was his new IMDB credit as "sad man at the bar 2".

For me it was the topic title:

Bravo: Uncorked

How else could anyone ever find Spike Bravo to be worthy of any kind of actual job?

Think about this for a minute.

He can still get fined back to the streets for being an accessory.

"sing like a bird"

I'm trying to picture this and it's really painful.

If my understanding is correct, the straw buyer is part of the scheme. He is there to show interest in the house so that it is easier to sell.
You have the original buyer, who makes a few superficial fixes to the house.
Then you have a bribed or fraudulent appraiser.
Then the straw buyer(s) come in, sort of like plants at an auction who jack the price up, or the guy at the side of a 3-card Monty game that wins a few scam rounds and walks away with a smile.