For me the biggest issue I learned was that after owning rentals if you do want to exit and you want to say sell to a retail client ( owner occ) which generally will pay the most for a SFR asset if its in a decent school district.

You will get a better rate and terms, experience, and a faster closing going wholesale than you would going with a retail lender. 

Could this possibly be caused by an identity theft?

It's really hard to pay retail prices on renovations and come out ahead on a flip.  

Retail footprint has trimmed because of Amazon, yes, that's contributing for sure.

About 4 years ago we purchased a retail center for cash and after stabilizing the tenancies financed $650,000 at 4% fixed 20 years with this lender.  3 months ago this lender allowed us to wrap their note in a new first lien we provided to a buyer with a 10% interest rate - essentially granting us the right to collect the differential between 10% and 4% on the principal balance (currently $610,000).  

.- One SFR had a tenant just move out, another is going through an eviction, so with half of the portfolio vacant, it's decision time.I'm trying to decide whether to sell them as a portfolio (at least the 3 Georgia ones as a portfolio, Iowa would probably have to be sold separately), or get the other 2 empty, fix them up and sell them all to retail homebuyers. 

And for sure there is a BIG difference in a commercial broker who specializes in investment properties and the average agent that sells homes for retail purposes..

I really don’t think people realize a 506c there does not have to be a ppm and the operating and subscription agreement can say they can invest in anything from pigs feet to moonstone and they could have an iq of 4 as a sponsor and do really dumb things but none of that is a scam or a ponzi.Just like last crash no one went down, same will happen here - regulators are far to busy dealing with the Wall Street crowd which impacts retirement accounts if retail investors - investors in a 506c are accredited = they can lose it all.Sec isn’t gonna spend $ 1M chasing someone who just had a bad deal.

It depends on the condition, but if it passes a 4-point inspection, I would definitely go for a novation first because they need help with bills, so you could probably support them with that while getting a retail buyer.