Welcome, Grasshoppah, but do not disavow your choice in avatar so quickly.For it is well known that in all such choices we seek to reflect some meaningful personal truth.Embrace your fat Elvis and let new wisdom flow from the depths like a high colonic.

If they see that 120,000 Mikes got money from mom and dad and went belly up later on, then that is an indication that money from mom and dad is a factor in making a bad loan.

Any way this evening I visited the property and rang the bell. I

That would be a big fat NO in my opinion.You are going to entrust 1 million dollars of your money without even knowing if they are qualified to help you??

Also, he talked me out of a deal that would have been a fat commission for him but iffy for me.

Doug,  you gave me a belly laugh this morning thankyou.. now let me ask you   how do you really feel about real estate agents  :)

Anytime a buyer can't close on time the only way I continue is with a very short extension and an additional big, fat, non-refundable deposit.

You won't find any lender or private money that will loan out that equity to you.I do know investors with millions in cash that loan out on properties.They loan to people that have the properties literally almost paid off and want to cash out some.Example a house with recent appraisal in the last month is appraised at 800,000. 200,000 is owed on the property.Investor loans 200,000 and secures first position with payoff of the first.They set a high interest rate and if the borrower defaults and they foreclose the lender will easily make the money back plus a fat profit.It depends on each states lending laws and foreclosure process on what you can and can't do.You could find someone who might lend the 60,000 with a high interest rate if the house is really worth 150,000 today.There is not as much risk there in that the lender can foreclose and quickly sell the property to recover costs.With your track record you aren't going to get a loan for a car business.My brother has had his own used car dealership for over 20 years in Georgia.He buys all his cars at private auctions not open to the public for dealers.The rookie dealers always want to bid on the running vehicles which is a mistake.You see they rig the cars to run at auction and then when the dealers take them back to their lot to sell they overpaid for a piece of crap.The dealer finances this piece of crap with some money down and a high interest rate.Most of these buyers live paycheck to paycheck.So when the car breaks down the lot has to pay a repo man hundreds of dollars to recover the vehicle because if they can't get to work they can't make money.The lot try's to sell the car again and finance and keep going that way.My brother takes a different approach.He goes to the dealer auction and buys the "no starts".Usually gets them for 300 to 500 bucks.Puts all new hoses,belts in and takes and puts a new tranny and engine in if necessary.Usually might have 1,500 to 2,000 in it and sells for 2,800 to 4,000 depending on what make and model and year it is.By him working the car top to bottom he sells them for cash and gives a 1 to 2 year warranty on them and will fix things if they have a problem.This way he knows what he is selling instead of something rigged to run at the auction.He usually sells about 100 cars a year.Most of his cars he sells around tax return time.People wait for their returns and save up some cash all year to add to it and then pay cash for his cars.In 30 to 60 days he sells about 75 to 80 cars at tax check time.This way he gets all cash and doesn't have to worry about repo.He also builds a rep of selling quality vehicles with a warranty and whole families buy from home.Makes a very nice return for him and his family.

As far as HOA fees vs paying for repairs, thats a big fat it all depends.

Too many times I get calls for a lien search from clients AFTER they have bought an HOA lienat the county auction for example and there's a big fat mortgage on the property.Do your homework, get advice, verify advice, and then do your homework again.