The primary form of diligence we see on the forums is "what do you think of XYZ sponsor and deal" whereas the common form of diligence in the space by institutional investors, large investment groups, family offices, and sophisticated investors involves following the sponsor for years, underwriting the deals, validating rent comps, background checks on the general partners, and a host of other diligence that materially de-risks the investments.  

... our friend here is only having operating partner in different project, that's hell of difficult task to do because you can't control your partner if they're not under your payroll.

Please consider this if you move forward.Additionally, you need to have a broker on payroll in illinois and three separate bank accounts with the security deposit trust account located in illinois.

Your short term loan your paying in full with your payroll and not amortizing for say 25 years.  

Reg D 504 allows non accredited but "sophisticated" investors.  

A bit about me: I’m a payroll manager for a restaurant group, where I handle everything from creating policies and SOPs to processing payroll and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws.

The sky’s the limit, however, depending on the sophistication and the amount of due diligence help you request. 

And it is very straightforward to file these, so I would expect it to be well within the scope of any operator sophisticated enough to pull off an owner financed deal. 

Maybe he's been set up by somebody more sophisticated and more sinister. 

You do not give up easily (sarcasm).Where you using any approach that is more sophisticated?