I could be misunderstanding how this deal was structured, but wouldn't the seller who is on the underlying mortgage have an incentive not to let it go into foreclosure since their credit is at stake?

When you go to a Bank or Credit Union, they can only offer you what products that bank or credit union offer.

I would ask to be connected with a fairly new real estate agent.

Credit unions, banks, mortgage companies and private lenders.They all had the same answer.

In most of those cases, their broker took a high fee and the investor didn't end up with a great deal.Here are a couple of things that are a tipoff you are not working with a broker with your interests at heart (1) they want to pull your credit before having a conversation, or (2) they send you a long list of things you need to provide them before learning about you and your deal.The conversation should start with why you are interested in REI, then understanding your strategy to get there.

@Geovanni Cano sellers don't like FHA, it is meant for people with little money and very low credit score, plus you have an FHA inspection which can derail a deal a week before closing, nothing the buyer can do.

I included stats on percent unleveraged purchases and that many of those fairly low percent cash purchases in fact use unseen leverage HML, private lending, etc and some are short term cash holds such as a flip or a brrrr that gets financed not long after purchase.  

I'm trying to find a solution that is fair to everyone.

CA there is NO possibility of a deficiency judgement on a purchase money owner occ loan.. borrower can walk and the worse that happens is their credit will have a foreclosure if the bank goes that route or a deed in lu. 

Typically Conventional will end 42% of DTI and FHA can get up to 51% DTI (and based on your credit score I think you should stretch to that 51%) Just a few things to start thinking about as you are working through the process.