People that need EMD on a deal, a fix and flipper needing a private money lender for 6-9 months, etc..

I’m assuming that you save quite a bit of money.”

They are running a personal brand, and I would rather donate my money to a good cause than their next mountain home. 

Since my RE financing investor does the incentive of paying for the property, I want to make sure that my business partner is getting a great ROI in profits, so I want to make sure that money is working for the first investor making a deal with me in the smoothest way possible! 

The refund part is just to get you get committed to another deal that makes them even more  money than that refund.

The same money could buy 1-2 full properties that would rent for more, depending on the market you choose. 

He then donates the commission he makes.

They make their money off of real estate agents, but real estate agents are the worst people to make money off because they are highly unreliable and in and out of the business when the market changes.Their target should be the consumer with higher levels that they can subscribe too for data, since Zillow is linked to the MLS now which makes their data somewhere more reliable.

Give the PM a demand to make you whole.

I would try not to tie up any of the principal in down payments.Personally, I had a family member do this same thing, but they used an investment portfolio as the collateral instead of real estate.If you play your cards right, this might be the only short-term money you ever need.Please let us know what you end up doing.