@Mark Watkins   well the 20k was a dead give away to me.. any lender that is doing deals will usually have a 75 to 100k minimum... check out the scottsmans guide there will be a list of REPUTABLE lenders there and you will see very few make loans for less than 100k... now in the mid west I know you need them lower than that.. but as a lender and I have been one... its just a loser to try to make little loans .. you can't charge enough to make the risk even close to worth it..so when I see these guys say they make loans at 20k to 20 million  RED FLAG... 

The property is fully rented, albeit at lower than market values.  

I will talk to a broker to make sure I do my transaction correctly.

We are both buyers and private lenders (our own funds) on lower $ ARV SFR properties throughout the U.S. 

The 401k may not transact in any way that provides a direct or indirect benefit to you.Simply "protecting" your property from development as you state could be viewed as a benefit to you.  

I have been in sales and marketing for almost 30 years. but I have a few major questions that might answer the question of why so many fail at it.1) Do you need a license in the state of California to close these transactions?

As an agent  I want the license mainly to lower fees for flipping, transaction education/experience, networking, and mls access, etc.

My goal is either to lower my interest rate which will help lower my mortgage payment which helps in increasing my monthly profits or pulling equity to make improvements to the rental and invest in other investment properties.

She also told me that the only transaction that could transpire before auction would have to go through the previous owner in the form of a short sale or a bank pay off.

Also:  What is a "Transaction Coordinator"?