I have more intimate knowledge, but then again, I have loads of time.The buyer however is still anonymous.

Have you tried co-operating with brokers in the area and paying them half a months rent to find a tenant?

Dan,It sounds like your friend approached you and is already willing and able to invest with you, so I am not sure an "initial letter" is needed here.The most important part is your operating agreement if you choose to form an entity in which you both are 50% partners or a well written joint venture agreement if you use your own entities as partnerships.These contracts/documents should stipulate all teh duties of each party, death survival verbiage, insurance, and all details of the deal process.

Sure you have paid down the note some but the higher interest rate on refi could make your debt service payments higher than before.It's easy to get into an property but sometimes much harder to get out of one.You have to think and plan for worse case scenario when structuring these deals.Many of these owner finance deals are going under the radar.I have already had some bankers tell me in the future they will call these as interest rates rise because of the DOS clause.So in my opinion it is an excellent time to load up on owner finance as long as the down payment and terms are right.

Now, your new tenant has a moving truck loaded and your tenant won't leave.

I used to run the business personally but as I became more involved in real estate I brought in a partner who runs the entire operation now.

We've continued to cut load times over the past weeks . . .

Assuming all operating costs and maintenance costs are same or similar which would be the better buy.

As to SEC attorneys, I doubt you'll find one who will say that your operation avoids SEC regulations and provide a guarantee of that, since they are pretty broad in what might constitute a security, that will be determined by the regulators not one attorney.You'll also find that a broker or investors who have problems in a deal will put any straw man in a bind quickly if they can not cure the problem quickly.

Banks that operate in a few counties... if you have cash to offer, they will listen.