And it also applies to any type of real estate you purchase with the intent of holding for productive investment use.  

Major plus.

With a regular, regulated lender neither one is legally possible and wouldn’t meet fed/state banking regulations.The current lender will either give you a discounted pay off, or they won’t.....that is your only solution to refi.The deferred principle makes this sound like a loan Modification done by a major lender.....not sure what a “balloon payoff penalty” is, sounds you are mixing up terminologies.

The major focus of the work would be to inspect properties both owned and potential acquisitions. 

You need to see saturation levels for the area for the product type retail, medical,etc. you are thinking of.

It doesn't sound exciting to say you work for a major corporation but your chances of long-term wealth dramatically go up when working within these corporations. 

I PERSONALLY know 50%+ of active investors in the area, makes it much easier to do acquisitions because I'm able to talk freely with the majority of the market to spot trends, brainstorm and help come up with plans of action for making the area better.

The state these are in also plays a major role as in some states you just be licensed to be the mortgage holder etc.

Is there a major difference?

It's really just collecting money, having a call with the PM every once in a while, and signing off on any major repairs or other larger decisions.