No big deal, but it would have been if I owned one of the defaulting notes.

At a basic level there is no one set way to structure a partnership.

There's no massive swings going on here, just consistent growth.

Low or no down, seller financing and low or no interest with a balloon payment later is the holy grail (location, building condition, market also matter but it sounds like you have all that).

When it comes to hooking up my follow-up system I've seen a lot of other CRMs fall short with drips (lack of good time delays, no custom mailing function, doesn't pause with a response, can send auto messages after a deal closes, etc) 

For that reason (& other reasons like no one was meeting even online), I started Real Estate Rocks. 

Frankly I have been to dozens of wholesaler walkthroughs where its blatantly obvious the seller has no clue what is going on.

Quote from @JD Martin: If you have found people willing to lend you - someone with I assume no experience doing this, since you're here asking the question - 100% of the costs of such an endeavor for half the profits, you have found a gold mine and should look no further.

I personally have no connections with anyone who is involved in this niche and I'm wondering how other people have started their journey.

Btw, the buyer is in no way at any criminal risk vis a vi the lender, he has no contract with the lender and therefore no obligation to the lender.