Check out the nearby members and network at https://www.biggerpockets.com/meet, it will help you a lot to find partners that can help you out in investing.  

@Ericka Grant If the guy has really good credit and thus a lot to lose in this situation he will either agree to the payment arrangement you suggested or find a way to deal with the "issues" he came to you with.If this were me I would let him cool down for a little while and in most situations these things take care of themselves.

I'm exploring building a guest house/duplex on an empty part of our lot to rent.

i'ts helpes me a lot to get perspective where are the good neighborhoods.

Just kiddin'.Anyone going through foreclosure has several things going on: 1) They are under a lot of stress, 2) Everybody is mailing to them and knocking on their door, 3) They are embarrassed, 4) They feel helpless, 5) They have the belief that winning the lotto will bail them out at the last minute, 6) It's the bank's fault, 7) This can't be happening to them, 8) They don't want to sell, 9) The house (even though it has a leaky roof and hasn't been kept up) is worth more than market price, 10) Believe you are there to take advantage of them, 11) Believe the government should do more to protect them, 12) Believe that their payments reduce the principal directly proportionate to their payment (Have no concept of compound interest, what Einstein called "the 8th wonder of the world"). 13) They can file a Chapt 13 bankruptcy at the last minute and keep the house if they have income, 14) They will wait until the day before the sale and call you if none of the other solutions work.Your opening comment should be " I buy houses in the area and I was wondering if you or someone you know might be interested in selling".

If you only have $83k to invest, that's not going to get you into many deals, so you're not going to have a lot to choose from.

There seems to be a lot to unwrap there and I haven't done any kind of independent research to verify if every ecomic body out there is raising their forecast of growth or not.

@Dustin Verley  In addition to real estate notes I've also worked with these cash flows:Business Notes - no real estate as collateral just FFE  (furniture, fixtures & equipment) and goodwill.Mobile Home Only Notes - mobile home on rented lot so no real estateInvoices - buying accounts receivable at a discount.Cell Tower LeasesLand LeasesCasino or Jackpot payoutsLottery paymentsStructured SettlementsAnnuitiesI haven't personally worked with Auto notes but know several investors doing well in that arena as well.The basic concept with all of these options is similar (purchase a future cash flow at a discount using time value of money calculations or IRR) but the documentation and due diligence will differ.

This imformation gives me a lot to start off with!

I still have a lot of homework to do and a lot to learn and need to build a team and network.