Their best bet is likely to sell on the open market...so why should they make less money (potentially) so you can make more?

Your best bet at that size is not going to be mezz, most of them cut checks at 2mil minimum. 

Your best bet is to contact the commercial banker at the bank who holds the first position mortgage on the property.

You've gotta work with someone who understand the investor route, a broker, who knows who can actually get the loan done is your best bet!

I'll bet there was no locksmith or the tenant locked themselves out of the house.Unless there was a defective lock, I wouldn't pay and even then, why didn't the tenant call you?

A third friend of mine was looking on the web and saw some "deals" in Cape Coral. 

We made a bet: be okay with no (or negative) margins on cleaning and let high quality reviews pay dividends years later.It’s paying off. 

If its' long term appreciation (which I'm personally not a fan of betting on) you can look at it as, if you put a small 3.5% down payment using FHA or Fannie Mae, and your property appreciates on average at 3% a year.

Your best bet for locating and connecting with this individual is on BiggerPockets or your local REI meet-up.

And behind the umbrella policy can be a complex web of corporations, LLCs, and trusts to protect you.Asset protection can get very complicated.