Ultimately would like to make connections so thank you SO much for your time and willingness to lend a hand to a new investor who is staring down into that water, wondering if this is the right leap...Much appreciated,Jon

In the end the mortgage will still be in your name, and you're ultimately still responsible for the payments since there's a personal guarantee.  

Not sure what to attribute retail's survival to, especially with a lot of store closures, but the asset class does seem to have staying power. 

Ultimately, what you said--location-- is the ultimate risk off AND reward ON play.

Agreed with above - explore every low cost option to collect, but ultimately, it is the cost of doing business. 

So Peerstreet ended up foreclosing, and ultimately netted about $3 million on the subsequent property disposition. 

Your returns in investing ultimately come from exchanging terminally abundant goods (fiat dollars, debt/future fiat dollars) for terminally scarce goods (high quality, supply constrained real estate).Selling to go into cash isn’t of interest unless I have a short term need for that cash or am funding another purchase.

@Bridget GrantGenerally if done PROPERLY mortgages should not survive a tax sale.

Start by reading the Ultimate Real Estate Investing Guide: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/ultimate-real-estate-investing-guide/introduction2.

However, ultimately, make sure you have a viable exit if you can come to a mutually beneficial agreement.