Unless the 20% you sent in was Earnest Money deposit the seller or title company cannot hold that you just tell them to wire it back.most likely as Russell stated you put up a nominal amount of EM  typically 1 to 5k and that does need a mutual release.Seller does not have to sign the release to be able to sell to someone else .. 

They most likely won’t be bidding 0% interest so if you just going after deeds and not concerned with interest you could beat them in states that bid down to 0% with no min guarantee.  

Conclusion: "The data seems to argue for the slow house price growth scenario, but my view is the most likely scenario is house prices will stall in nominal terms and decline in real terms."

We charge a nominal commitment fee ($500) because we engage a lot of 3rd parties to fund quickly (credit, background check, flood certificate, legal, etc).

Not sure of the demand for that local investor assistance, but I could just offer to do it for free as a favor to start out - which would give me additional exposure and experience beyond the work i'm doing for my own renovations then eventually move to a nominal fee for my time and mileage/trip fee.....very interesting, thanks again!

Credit and background are more nominal charges that I think you could afford to eat should the borrower flake out.

With a single door, tenant placement is a nominal $500. 

That's why nominal, actual numbers are more helpful.

Typically nominal stamps are paid with the deed.

Likely, if you had a good attorney when you closed they will just help you take care of this for a nominal cost/free.