OR convince the seller to take back a short term second mortgage (6-8 months) which is junior to your hard money.

this is a tough one.... one school of thought is take the 3 million do a 1031 and buy a property that you do not need partners for and call it a day.I have a property IN Ca  exact same price range  3 mil value I bought for 25k 25 years ago.. my inclination is to just get my cash and not take ANY risk to market... we buy development ground from owners to build our subdivisions I find it very difficult to talk owners into partnering.. simply for the reasons above.. end the day moving the money tax deferred and not being locked into partners and being junior to a HUGE amount of debt dissuades folks from this route.

Hi BP,I am 22 years old and a junior in college, majoring in finance.

We're not part of a monster big-name brokerage, where you'll get handed off to junior team members once the ink is dry on our listing contract.  

My research has shown that in Georgia, a real estate auction "wipes away" junior liens. 

I don’t plan on doing this for another year, I am finishing up my junior year now.

I know silly but its the law .. do look up the foreclosure rescue laws in CA I know they are there @Sean OToole  knows them by Heart.Now also the loan with Quit claim is totally illegal I know its done but anyone complains and your in hot water that is circumventing the borrowers right to cure.. so forget that one.also if there is no junior  debt and its a California trustee sale its probably going to sell for at least 75 to 80% of ARV so figuring no sales cost no fix up work.. that could be his best bet let it go to sale get the MASSIVE overage tax free and move on.. depending on your financial capacity I did this in Oregon 10 years ago.. and before the laws changed .

It comes down to debits and credits for the most part but there is also the logistical and sometimes conflicting component of investor requirements and 3rd party requirements (MI company, junior lien holder, senior lien holder, GSE, etc.) that at the least, influence the transaction or, can control the transaction beyond the seller's or lender's objectives outright.

I took an A/C course at the junior college, taught by the HVAC guy who was a sponsor of, and frequent guest on, the local home handy man radio show.

And you're doing so in a second (junior) lien positioning.