The bank will sell notes to other banks, mortgage companies, dealers and those who hold the proper license in a mortgage industry activity, just not to Joe.

And if they are a hobbyist/part-time builder, then they should engage the proper professionals, i.e. a title officer, civil engineer, architect, contractor et al to assist in reviewing the project's feasibility.

I think there is a weird balance here, among professionals, where people may not want to bad mouth fellow professionals, particularly from the same areas, which can create a skewed picture. 

. - Won't work unless you REALLY know a market and have the proper connections!

Does it make sense to cheap out over the few thousand dollars it will cost to go through a proper escrow and title process?

I am interested in hearing about your experience traversing the 'green standards' new construction and permitting process in KCMO proper.

Ideally, finding a lender who offers a balance of both is key. 

Mortgage balances go down and eventually get paid off. 

We have a balance of 266K on the mortgage @ 3 percent interest.

Or they could never get to the latter, because they never had the beginning characteristics which include the former to develop properly.