I don't just hand over money unless I have a good respect for the person. 

Share what you are looking for and the deals you are working on with your network in person and on social media regularly.2.

Build connections with local professionals, talk to them in person, and value there time over yours.

Whether the seller was open to a buyer commission or not, I wouldn't put an additional cost into any personal purchase.  

I have found that going that extra mile, like the couch covers etc and making sure the person with the disability has the easiest time visiting our place.As someone with a disability (I have a degenerative neurological disorder) and use a cane, I like to make sure folks with similar issues have a good time.

I get that you are from there so you are getting emotional and taking my comments personal, which were not my intentions. 

@Shawn Questa I agree with you that there could be some opportunity here, but personally, with that little equity in the property, I'd wait for the pre-foreclosure process to start and  perhaps you can do a short sale (though I don't know the details on how that's handled in TX).

I recently read a book that mentioned there being a lot of power and benefits of a personal corporation but I'm curious as to when a corporation is actually beneficial over the latter. 

Probably not a good person to hire, maybe let your bosses know. 

Ideally you would put only one persons name on the mortgage unless you absolutely had to have both to qualify.