I was drawn to this investment mainly to test out the new padsplit model.

Financing-  build a relationship with a regional banker, don’t shop for interest rates, start small and build history and loyalty they are your team, Cross collateralize, deposit CD/MM or custodial account with bank for loan, give them monthly updates, nail your deal analysis, do stress tests on your deal analysis-cost/interest rate/deal length/ sale price etc. 12.  

I generally agree that buying SFH as first investment is an easy way to test the waters; however, if you’re set on REI I suggest buying a duplex or quad.

In this instance what I would do is get the deed in lieu from the borrower so you ahve the property again and get a note from them but have an attorney draft it to see if you can include a confession of judgment - meaning if they do not pay then you can get a quick judgment and possibly garnish wages.I would also have them put a small down payment as part of the note and only accept a check that way if you ever did garnish you have a copy of a check so you know where they bank.unfortunately you are right they can stop paying on the note and its unsecured so its a risk but out of all the options this is your best option.

Most only accept offers with no contingencies so if you're newer it's not the best investment due to the higher risk associated.

You can't accept anything over the allowed budgeted price.

And a general contractor would NEVER sign a customers contract  This ^^^^ 1) No good GC will accept a customer providing materials They would have to be a newbie or a fool.

I don't accept credit card payments for this very reason.

*the site currently needs to pass certain soil tests to make sure it is clear to develop, so this is a higher risk area for investment since it is not certain if the tests will come back positive till around the beginning of 2025.

Have you received an accepted offer at this point?