(2) Is there ever an advantage to taking out a shorter term mortgage (maybe 10 years)?

It sounds like they are trying to get a little more money to postpone the sale for like 7 days or perhaps shorter/longerIf you get an offer submitted then they may postpone regardless.Have there been any postponements yet or is Jan 5th the original auction date?

So, on that second contract, he asks Billy for shorter terms.

On a commercial loan, you are paying 25% down, higher rates, and shorter terms.

Be very careful with this though, if you have shorter term financing like I do prepare for a down turn, I have no idea how much values fluctuate in your market, and if your note need to be renewed in a down market, you better have enough equity, or a pile of cash to bring in, I have seen many investors collapse because they harvested too much equity, I limit my portfolio to 40% LTV, im running about 35% on 21 properties right now, so i feel pretty safe, I was through the last crash and saw some guys i thought had it figured out crash and burn, just a word of warning. 

My shorter-term goals aren't quite as lofty, because I know there is a lot of work involved to get there.

Most folks are assuming shorter time frames (although you might be right as I do not know how long Andrey wants/prefers holding on to this asset) because they either want to move up or sell the property (same thing, in my eyes). 

Turnkey has a shorter runway - you can get started faster because there are fewer moving parts.

Question 2I was told my property (in Columbus Ohio) will need to "season" for 12 months before a loan can be granted based off of the appraised value instead of the purchase price.Is this normal and does anyone know of financial institution that will provide shorter "seasoning" periods?

Buy a townhouse/condo in Greenwood area and live there to enjoy shorter commute to SLU.