The final straw was just last week when tenant randomly attacked my competency in my professional career.

Don't get stuck in education / analysis paralysis.

Today he finally admitted that their system can't handle non-US addresses, so they can't give me a mortgage.  

Hello, I'm new here. I've done a lot of research and even worked on running numbers for certain options (just as an exercise), but I'm now looking forward to jumping in. I'm looking at small multifamiles and won't hav...

I will probably wait until the loan is finalized to do anything to be on the safe side regardless this time.

Quote from @Daniel Huang: Hi, I am trying to transition to develop my rental income as I am in the final years of my professional career.  

ACT when they go to sell, or takes the property under contract without telling the seller he is not the final buyer and then assigning the SubTo property to someone else for a fee. 

Agreed - my analysis incorporates this. 

Flat fee is your safety, profit split is your upside—works best when you really trust the investor.Equity Sharing + Second Position: Kind of like the repair funding idea, but you just lend for repairs and instead of only charging interest, you get a piece of the final profit too.

That discussion pushed me towards ground up construction, where I finally find myself today.