I believe a business should be run with all honesty and transparency. 

Once it's an REO, there no longer is a mortgagor or mortgagee, there no longer is a mortgage...it's now called "selling at a loss", which I agree is "short" of what they wanted....but, enough of the semantics.

Just today I kinda went threw that with someone who has money to buy the homes to flip ..they asked for me to locate the property to renovate & purchase ..when I got to the part of signing a contract to secure my fees ..they refused to sign .. out of the two partners , one must of had the funds to purchase ..the other one I was talking to - might have been the one that had to locate the property..but he advertized to find someone to look for the property with verbal  promise of some sort of funding for the finders fee ... when you mention contract to secure your funding ...if they won't sign then you know there may be a problem with the honesty.. 

I appreciate your honesty, I am a big girl (not literally).

@Matthew Hille it's all about intent and honesty as @Bruce Runn says. 

Honesty will take you a long way in this business!

Because, in all honesty, after closing and you set up your recurring payments to pay the note every month, you may never interact with that individual again. 

I'd rather ask them what they make, then prove it, that shows honesty and if they don't qualify tell them after they showed their hand.

You are right about the brokering, and some say its about semantics and how you word things. 

To be honest, I hope I never even see the property, just provide a good, safe living situation for the tenants and collect some solid cash flow each month.All that being said, anyone have any tips for out of state investors?