Ultimately, do what you can to help them in their situation.

However, these lenders typically have predetermined agreements with wholesale lenders (FNMA as a prominent example) so if the correspondent lender wants to sell the paper, they have to abide by the rules of the lender who ultimately will end up holding the paper long-term.

Ultimately, if you still can't get it, before you break anything I would probably just cut it with a reciprocating saw (i.e.

It's really a conversation of WHEN will you need this capital, WHAT is your ultimate goal as an investor, and WHAT do you enjoy doing?

Assuming I am ultimately made whole, the inflation-adjusted sales price ends up being around $1.3M.

I also plan on making many more investments after my initial one and ultimately get to $30/mo + in cash flow over the course of my investing career.

They should be able to lay out the facts for you and educate you, but ultimately the final decision is up to you. 

Buying a crappy property will probably ultimately lead to crappy tenants.

Ultimately, you will need to decide what information you want to believe.

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).