Consider that if the seller can't pay the mortgage and can't afford to come to the table with cash, generally the next best option is a foreclosure, and benefits of a short sale over a foreclosure are huge:- Foreclosure can often result in deficiency judgment whereas it is generally negotiated away in a SS- Foreclosure will generally result in a tax bill whereas if you live the home, you are currently exempt from taxes on a SS deficiency- Foreclosure will hit your credit hard (7+ years as a non-payment) whereas a SS won't hurt you too bad (hits your credit as a "negotiated settlement" and you can generally get an FHA loan 2 years later)- Foreclosure you won't get any cash whereas most short sales you'll generally get at least $1000 and often much moreIf I were a homeowner in distress, I would view a SS as an amazing option compared to most of the alternatives, regardless of whether some investor was going to make money off the deal.

This means that if any of the components of the structure, plumbing, electrical or mechanical systems are deficient and will not pass the lenders inspection, it will not qualify for a loan.

If you can get each of them to pony up a couple thousand, say $2k each (or more) they can use that in an offer to pay a portion of the deficiency which looks close to $25k +/-.  

There may be off limits landlords, they might sell, usually due to deficiencies and unfair practices so realize they aren't the best of the industry.

He's not an ex, if he were there would be a divorce and the deed issue would have been taken care of.You can sue for patrician of the property, the court may tell him to sell, most like it will order a sale, at auction and both will probably lose money and end up with a deficiency judgment.

I get that that there's more to an offer than price, and if we knew our offer was deficient we would have worked on other areas as well.

You can either fix the deficiencies or lower the price. 

You mentioned this as an issue.Even if there is a deficiency in your policy, you're probably still wise to file the claim against your insurance for the full amount.  

You may be able to garnish wages after a deficiency judgment.

Take pics, detailed deficiencies and make your pitch as to your offer as a payoff or short sale, but the short isn't the route unless the loan is delinquent.