Do we just forfeit up $200/mo to him or do we get to take out expenses and then give the investor 20% of monthly profits?

In a hot market, offer your percentage to the listing agent - that might move you to the top of the offers, use it in on repairs in escrow, forfeit it for lower purchase price, credit the seller, roll it back into the principle, or into the next property.

If the lender doesn't perform in a timely manner, the buyer forfeits the escrow.The lender has been slow to respond on a few occassions but nothing like the week and a half it took for the seller to schedule the appriasal inspection... stating that the tenants needed to have proper notification.

I believe we could have gotten out of the deal in the very beginning if I truly bought a disaster, and we likely would have forfeited at least our $2,500 credit card hold, although Auction.com was never 100% clear about that.

Ok... just make sure that you will be ready to purchase when the time comes so you don't forfeit any rehab work you did. 

The risk of not taking it is forfeiting your hard-earned money.Where I have a problem is the black areas, as in reckless advice to deduct your groceries, deduct your clothes, deduct your vacations etc. 

If you don't want to live in the current home you might just buy another and forfeit what you've already paid towards it. 

My wife and I are now discussing how we probably should've had something like "if lease is broken, tenant automatically forfeits 1/2 deposit" or something like that.

Assume an accredited investor and no securities law issues for simplicity.1) Homeowner pays for a legitimate appraisal.2) Homeowner grants the right to Investor to receive 10% of any appreciation above the appraised value when and if the house is sold.3) In exchange, Investor pays the homeowner an amount equal to 10% of the appraised value, with 20% down and the rest on an interest-only promissory note held by Homeowner.4) The note bears interest at Prime + 0% and does not have any origination fees or prepayment penalties.5) The investor gets credit for 10% of the eventual net proceeds from sale with the net being 10% of net sales proceeds less the remaining balance of the loan.6) If the investor defaults on the loan and fails to cure the default, the claim on the equity is forfeited.7) The homeowner remains fully responsible for costs of maintenance, insurance and taxes, but this is offset somewhat by the interest on the loan and the cash received upfront.8) Presumably if there is a gain beyond the homeowner's basis, there is no tax for now unless the proceeds exceed $250k for an individual or $500k for a couple.

I must, however, satisfy some stipulations:  1) my offer must exceed the previous by 5%  2) I must put 5% down with the county clerk at the time I make my offer 3) I have 10 days to close 4) If i fail to close I forfeit the 5% down payment and also am required to make up any shortfall between the eventual sales price and the original offer 5)  My offer can in turn be upset by another bidder or the original bidder.Long story short there are too many questionmarks for my taste at this point.