It's clear from your post, and the limited information you put in there, that you are out ahead of your skis here.

A big learning curve ahead i suppose.

Several years later and she's still struggling to get even let alone get ahead.  

Bill Gulley Your right Bill I got ahead of my self there.... while I have bought and sold many notes I am sure I am not the top dog in that game by any stretch.

Skipping ahead many months, I'm happy to report that half of the equity wiped out by the lien was recovered which made a big difference for these folks who were looking to retire.We purchased the house when my wife was 8 months pregnant.

However, if the issue is an easy fix, I’d still go ahead and help resolve it!

It’s awesome that you’re already thinking strategically about getting into real estate early on, many people wait years before taking this step, so you’re ahead of the game.You’re right about Dallas being a competitive market, and finding cash-flowing houses in good areas under $300-400k can be challenging, especially with rising interest rates.

So she’s really into just collecting her check every month which I’m faithfully sent her ahead of time for 12 years.

Looking forward to seeing the relationships you build and the growth ahead!

These self employed 2nd mtg's are typically based on alternative method of caluclation like profit and loss statements if you're self employed or the last 12 months of bank statement deposits using a formula to derive an income from these deposits (like 50% of all annual rolling 12 calendar month deposits X 50% /12 months = monthly income).