I'm having a very hard time with them and on the verge of losing my earnest money on a house purchased to flip.

Hard to narrow down in such a big state. 

Once you do, then you can verify if it's hard or easy to flip there.Couple questions I would be asking, how long does the permit process take.

If this property is hard to rent, or is functionally obsolescent (only 1 bathroom, no yard, etc), or has deferred maintenance that will be costly, or is in a location that is not appealing to Tenants, then maybe a sale would be a good option in favor of a property that has better Tenant appeal, which will likely increase rent and avoid long vacancies in between Tenants.An option to consider....

I find it hard to believe that you would risk a 9 figure portfolio for $300kI am not saying that getting a 1m payout on a destroyed property is easy.

Lastly, build relationships with cash buyers and hard money lenders early on—they’ll be key to closing deals quickly. 

With this in mind, if you intend to leverage short-term debt (hard money), it's even more vital that your underwriting is thorough and that you have the correct systems in place to tackle potential issues.

using a hard money lender is a great resource . what is the project looking like ? 

It's making it hard to find anything worth chasing.

Hard money is short term and expensive.