Goal is to pay him for the house 20K ish have the mortgage for the remaining amount owed and not have to come up with 25% down for the mortgage. 

Because sec 8 will pay more.

I went ahead and pay the retainer fee to have anna as my retainer. so let see how this plays out

So maybe now less sales get done.Maybe the big boy brokerages go all in house, so don't pay a buyer's agent. 

Im not a flipper but I've done a few projects that required short term loans and have found that private money is:  1. cheaper, 2. more flexible, 3. excited to be part of the journeyPeople would rather pay a stranger who would happily foreclose on you 10-14% but hesitate to ask their own Aunt if she would want to make invest at 9%. 

Your insurance and property taxes will be set according to your purchase price.

I was wondering when it comes to finding a hard money lender for rehab costs, is it a general rule to pay for a percentage of the rehab initially?

I have a lender that was willing to do a refinance at 80% LTV on a DSCR loan, so after the escrow account for taxes and insurance, closing costs and everything, I got a check at closing for $2,201.91.

It doesn't work, it's just an excuse for extremely wealthy people and politicians to pay less taxes. 

Tenant stopped paying rent.