You are a junior lien holder to them (Assuming you record your lien).

During my junior year, I learned how to do neuro-diagnostic testing and created a small business that covered my life expenses, while I attended my classes.

But my goal was to pay it off before my son graduated high school, and it will be paid off after his junior year.

Are these properties with the junior lien defaulting?  

You can not be found until you realize you are lost.Let's use the analogy of formal schooling, grades 1-6 being grade school, 7-8 being junior high school and grades 9-12 high school.  

If there is a junior lien you can purchase it and then you have the right to buy out the note holder as well.

The only bank that would EVER actually go to sale with money would be a junior lien holder trying to bid to protect their lien position and keep from being wiped out (I do it daily when I'm the junior lien holder).And while I agree that it can take months to get the foreclosed property on the open market, it's not because they are just sitting there.

Loan investors have a protocol and procedure to be followed to make sure people really need a short sale and aren't just bailing on an upside down property at the owner of the loan's expense,; to get as close to FMV as possible; analyze whether a foreclosure will net more money;negotiations with junior lien holders; mortgage insurance providers approval; etc, etc.  

And, I expect they will stay on the next year as well since they are only juniors right now.  

It is clear that the lender doing that has more intentions of taking a property back than allowing another lender in a junior position to pay them off, like saying, I don't really want my money, I want the property back after default.Saying no other liens won't be enforced; an owner who gets a judgment from some other matter such as a law suit or tax matter is not an event of default to foreclose.