It is a balancing act, but your future self will thank you.PS maybe try to seperate your equity investment from your cash flow investment: there are other ways to build a couple hundred $ in passive income and then you can focus your REI on long term goals.

How much of the past due balance would they forgive?

Or is it better to wait out the seasoning period with your loan balance (I used a HELOC so no hard money lenders or balloon payments) and just refi out in 6 months?

Rockaway Beach has made consistent appearances on many top beach STR investment lists due to a balanced price to ROI ratio (and majestic destination) with a historically a low barrier to an STR permit.

Quote from @Robin Simon: Its definitely dependent on a lot of variables, personal situation/risk tolerance, etc.But high-level, I would say that there can certainly be a balance - sometimes people forget that when using hard money or any sort of financing, for some reason you need to "MAX out leverage" - i.e. do a 100% financing for a flip or a max cash-out refinance etc..However, most hard money lenders would be totally willing to do a lower leverage loan (and would probably prefer it) such as 50% or 60% LTC instead of the usual max amount. 

I bought a vacant commercial piece of land about a year ago- (seller finance- $100k down/ $200k balance due in Dec 2024.

It's a fine balance between economy and what you would do for oneself, but creating a space that feels like home should be of primary focus.If you're looking for some insight into re-leveraging any investment properties for capital improvements, furnishings, etc, some lenders can utilize AirDnA projections to qualify. 

What if the house sells at auction for less than the foreclosing lien balance?

just be cautious when it comes to using these. ensure you've got a plan to pay that balance back in a relatively quick fashion as most HELOC rates can fluctuate which could make the numbers suddenly not work. i've leveraged mine in instances where i'm doing a BRRR and i want the deposit for a private money loan. i'm not using it as my downpayment and leaving it out there for a long period of time. 

So its a fine line on how to balance those things and grow whatever business you want to grow..