If he’s willing to carry the note for ten or fifteen that may work but I’d sure hate in 5 years, to be on the hook for over half a million dollars and be scrambling to secure funds to save my butt from losing everything .

You will get decisions to them immediately, pay for rightful change orders without delay, that you have secured financing and have the required amount of cash on hand to cover any discrepancies in the draw schedule, and will provide X number of units a year.

So after go back and forth with the seller to strike a deal that made sense for the both of us, I secured a buyer that was instantly ready to buy my contract and we just closed escrow 4/26/2019.

The property has been on the market for ~15 months, it's listed too high, but I will fight that battle once I feel secure that I can finance the purchase.

When I was less financially secure then I am now.

I have so much respect for those on this forum that help out and am so thankful from the knowledge I've gained from browsing over the years.As to my question, I am looking to secure a second lien position with a personal guarantee on a hard money loan in Pasadena, CA. 

You are all kinds of patient explaining to your 'professionals' as much as you have.As mentioned, there's no monetary value or gain for them knowing RI, unless you're stripping equity or selling to invest in securities. 

However,  to answer the part of your question that can be answered here,  I think Hard Money is proper if you plan to offer one or more of your rehabs as to secure a loan and you credit is suffering. 

I have a client that I am working with here in Boston, but he is interested in a property out of state (Ohio) and they are having trouble securing financing. 

He signed the lease agreement for one year and gave a $600 security deposit.