I think it would be better just to stay on good terms and let him know you will contact him when you are ready to sell.

One of my challenges was selling a property with only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.

If the other two parties want to flip a house maybe they can do just that as partners and then sell you the house which you can buy with a primary home loan with low down payment.

In your example, they bid the property to $225k because it's worth $300k so they're going to get all their money back when they sell it.

If they are selling for under $250k I might just eat it.

He was also in escrow to sell the house as a busted flip, as-is.

If you were able to build equity over time, it could be smart to sell, pay off your loan, and use the money for another venture (flip, investments, etc) if it is truly bleeding you out.

We did this because initially we were just going to build/sell, but I would rather hold on to it.

Many times a lender buys a property back at a sheriff's sale/auction where they are selling properties as part of a foreclosure.

Watch it for a while, track listings, see what sells and what doesnt, what areas move quickly, etc.