There is usually an IC ( independent contractor ) agreement with you and the brokerage spelling out under what conditions you will be able to place your license there.Every state is different on the exact process and I know nothing about New Jersey's process.It sounds like the principal broker says once you join them after getting a license then they will feed you leads.

@Kurt Pourbaix I agree with other responders, as described this sounds more like a joint venture than a lender/borrower situation.However, talk to your accountant, there may be ways to structure your arrangement so part of it is lending (with interest income & principal repayment) and part of it is investing...if that would be helpful to you and your tax situation.

It's very nerve wracking to think, us as a household that makes roughly 35,000/year will have to pay back 15,000.Originally enacted in 2007, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act allows debt forgiveness of up to $2 million to NOT be considered taxable income if: The house has been used as the principal place of residence for at least two of the previous five years.The debt has been used to buy, build, or make substantial improvements to the home.

if I could raise another 30k I would buy all cash, I don't want to refi again since I just did a couple of months ago and that would just add more to my principal balance.  

Option 1: Purchase the most house for my money in order to have the most possible equity when the market goes back up and either flip or rent the place using the profit or equity in order to get into a new place (I am somewhat versed in the regulations around using rental income toward purchasing another property and my understanding is that I could count half of the monthly rental price toward my income while the principal of the property still counts toward my debt services ratio) please correct me if I am wrong.

I recommend reading a few books, and talking to a few lawyers to get a grasp on what "fair" is when you move up to structuring larger deals...A great but overlooked book is "The principals of real estate syndication" by Samuel K Freshman.Good luck!

You need to make sure that it's still a good deal to buy even when you don't live their any more.For example, if only $30 of your monthly rent pays toward the principal balance, it will take forever.  

However, you are also identifying those with problems that you CAN solve and, hopefully, have enough sense to refer the ones that all beyond your skills and resources to others, perhaps for a small portion of the profit.I'm not going to post details about how to knock and where to stand, however your job is to schmooze with people and determine if they are a principal or not.

I could put that amount toward the principal instead, right?

It doesn't sound like you need the $80,000 principal or the income it could generate in the immediate future, right?