It seems like a safe bet to me that inflation will stay where it is or increase in the medium term or long run.  

We later refinanced them in one of our names, you might have to wait a couple years to do so but unless you would hit your 10 property max before then it might be your best bet.

. - I bet some folks will chime in.Mike

What if one tenant or the other is not physically or mentally capable to do the task?

This may not be the answer that you want to hear, but I would suggest partnering with an experienced investor and potentially having him/her provide some of the financing.That's the best bet in my mind, you can take the learning experience as your profit on the deal.

If you decide to stick with SB, just know how to run numbers and unfortunately flipping is probably your best bet (unfortunate in the since that it's high capital required to do it in SoCal).

Don't bet on it that there is another offer.

That's a suckers bet.

That means I'll bet that deed in lieu will be frowned upon more aggressively than it is here.

@Stephen Masek you're right, there should always be contingencies and you should always hedge your bet.