The restriction is that the debt-instrument must be non-recourse. 

People are doing this because they aren't trying to cash flow at 80% LTV with a 15-year fixed rate debt instrument.  

LOL, so you bought Christmas gifts early, that may be your best use for them.I do know of this old book, there is some good psychology contained in that one......but,It reminds me of the musical, The Music Man, where the guy was a "pitchman" salesman posing as a music teacher selling band instruments to kids.

But person who is taking loan must have some other "insurance instrument".

To make the situation even better, my attorney recommended including self-serving language in the security instrument to the effect of, "This loan is made without the expectation of any return to the lender other than what is laid out specifically in this instrument," or something like that.

That will let you talk about what is important to each of you, get it in black and white and then it can be sent to an attorney to draft the note and security instrument or note as described.Forwarding a random note that may or may not be used to me seems a bit like wasting time.

And the amount could be anywhere from just a token ($50-100) or something substantial ($500+), depending on how instrumental they were in the project succeeding or how much they have helped me in the past on prices when I needed help.I also go out of my way to get my contractors more business -- I'm pretty sure they appreciate this more than the cash.

We've got a very modern infrastructure, a full instrumented app (meaning that it self reports problems) and a large team of engineers that tackle issues as they come up.

He bought a debt instrument at a discount to the principal balance owed on the note.

It's the second biggest city in MA and has multiple schools, colleges, hospitals, etc.The meet up Andrew mentioned above has been really instrumental in my search and helped me building connections.