If that house sold for a little less than that in 2007 at the top of a market, versus if it sold for a fraction of that 6 months ago, will tell you a relatively clear story about the house. 

If it is, query the listing agent.For a short sale, it is Very difficult, and perhaps not legal, to process a short sale without the cooperation and signatures of the original Borrower.The lender, if they will entertain this, will require the property be listed on the mls for likely a minimum of 5 days before any contract is considered (this is a whole different game when you have a buyer lined up, and have to “make it public on the mls” before accepting an offer).The hoa is Not going to make a bunch of money on this.....they’re still out the original hoa debts and the bank is only going to offer them a fraction of what is owed If the y approve the short sale.Be aware, some associations have hosed people in the past by selling units they acquired thru foreclosure by selling them to unsuspecting buyers via QCD, not letting them know about the underlying mtg.

The idea is that you invest along with them and get fractional ownership.

a lot of this is simply you have to play the cards your dealt.. in your market you are doing that.. the mind set in Erie Pa is probably not to go look at rentals in the SF bay area.. to buy.. no you look in your city.. and if your city has historic or declining over the decades in values.. or more importantly you can buy these homes for a fraction of what they would cost to rebuild.. that's what you do..

Ideally, you need to have NONE of the homes owned by the park. you could own them in a separate company or you could sell them on contracts to all of the people renting in the park but the MHP shouldn't own more than a very small fraction of the homes.The homes are personal property and thus can't be rolled into the commercial loan.

You can spend a fraction of that cost and probably learn just as much by going to meetups, reading real estate books, and partnering with other professionals in your area.

My thought was that a "HELOC-style" line of credit would allow us to pull out only a fraction of the debt (and thus only effect the cash flow marginally) to acquire other income generating properties free and clear.

You'll get the needed experience I outlined above, with a fraction of the risk.2.

(For instance, I wonder if I could find a realtor who'd be willing to give me some fraction of their fee if I sent a motivated seller their way and a deal actually went through.)I'll let you know if I come up with something, and please do the same.

Originally posted by @David Abbate:May I ask if you got the property for a reasonable fraction of a conservative ARV estimate?