Those that tie up the property with $10 or nothing at all for a month then "weasel" out when they can't find a buyer are the ones that leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth.But at least half of the time the complaint is not legality or morality, but the "how dare you call yourself an investor with no skin in the game" platitude. 

If this does not sit well with your morals, find funds prior to finding a deal.

I understand your point, if I hear you correctly....there is no one way to accomplish your goals in real estate, but each method needs to be legal, moral and ethical.  

Morally and ethically you should not put something under contract when you have no idea of value and don't intend to close even if you can't assign it but it sound like that is not the case with you.

and if this lady would have got with some one else to sell the lot early on ( she was going to get foreclosed out in a matter of 10 days or so) she probably could have gotten 230 to 250k for it from a builder.. but it was amateur hour and these guys in the middle were just trying to make too much and they backed themselves in a corner. but there was NO WAY no how I was going to buy that and be a party to someone ripping 100% profit from this lady.. its just not the right thing to do morally in my mind.. 

It's never too early or late (ethically or morally) because someone has decided to deal with stuff in order to receive current or future benefits of a property. 

I think his financial situation changed though and it changed his morality meter.

It took me all day to get these perfect never mind all the ink and paper I wasted.The moral of the story:  check your mail merge 5 times before sending 3000 to the printer.  

If the lender says no, then you are stuck with a home worth less than the loan, and either keep it as is and cry yourself to sleep every night, or give the property back to the owner (which isn't very ethically or morally right to do).

Seems like the general consensus is that from a clear moral stand point you are doing nothing wrong if you actually buy the property yourself if you can't move it.