Secondary factors like how much I have available to pay down with (now or via monthly budget) or the opportunity cost (investments that could be made instead) must be eliminated so that only the efficiencies/deficiencies involved in the loans and their order of early payment are considered.

You would not be able to see A deficiency but you can obtain possession.

There is no deficiency judgment for equity funded notes that are foreclosed or unpaid after collateral is received by the note holder, on the other hand, there is no forgiveness of debt as the sale terminates.

Andrew, thanks for the tip on remaining conservative to make sure we will see real cashflow after all said and done.The challenge seems to be finding a property on the MLS that is well maintained and also has strong cashflow without having a glaring deficiency such as an extremely steep hill.  

You'll get a lot of attention provided the purchase price you are offering is within acceptable paramaters of our fair market value.Trust me on this...we know what it's worth more than you or your agent does 99% of the time so, lowballing us or pointing out deficiencies to try to justify your offer (Deficiencies we are well aware of) won't always accomplish your objective.

In Fl they're changing the law to allow only one year, verses five, to file the deficiency suit.

Some states allow deficiency judgments.

A short sale would be less damaging than a foreclosure, especially if there's recourse in your state, for a deficiency.

If you do, they get title, and if they don't make the payments you'll be foreclosed on by your bank before you can foreclose on them, your credit gets trashed, and you'll get stuck with a deficiency.

When you step down in class of property you increase all the bad stat's  like education deficiencies, crime, lack of any appreciation at all.. lack of liquidity IE renter dominated streets or sub markets.