So because its such a shotgun approach in certain markets.. ( Portland being one) your response rate will be very low) so they are shocked to even get a call.the next thing is these folks listen to what's written here but they have no phone or sales skills.. they may be young and think it cool to use old technology.. but their target market is not young and not tech driven.. they simply don't understand what they need to do.Their are definite sales skills that are needed to cold call people and then turn them and close them.. think of Stock brokers etc. its called a one call close.. your one call to get an appointment .

Having only one aspect such as land may not be sufficient in an equitable exchange for the economic benefit for the use of money.If someone has no management skills, no experience, no capital or income, and can't contribute anything to improve the land as labor, but has 1,000 acres and wants to borrow $1,000.00 that is not an equitable exchange. if any lender did lend in that situation it would be a predatory transaction.

It all comes down to your experience and negotiating skills.

I have sat through some extremely dry IRS video publications in my free time, and concluded for now I needed to raise some capital, make a soft entrance into the real estate investment world, and practice patience to avoid their heavy hand. 

I don't have the personality or the math skills to really get into things like buying and selling Paper or Notes.

I punched a hole in the soft drywall and found a very small amount of mold. 

Confirming what we experience every day, if you're not doing the work yourself, then good luck finding a contractor in Southern California who can answer your call.http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/business/20170830/la-construction-firms-cant-find-enough-skilled-workers-amid-too-much-demand-for-fixing-up-homes-granny-flats

However, there is a soft black material that has been glued to the cement floors and getting it up is proving to be a total nightmare.  

I'm sure there are more skilled persons in finances/taxes/lending that can jump in on this forum.

If you were not comfortable with the seller you could have an escrow agent hold the funds but it’s not common.The process goes like this: you make an indicative offer; if accepted the seller provided the soft collateral package and you run title report and confirm property value.