One of the things you can do is reach out to a few banks/lenders and have them add you to their list of "Approved Builders" just make sure you have the time and crew because it can get busy fast.

If the buyer got a loan from a traditional lender to get to the 75k number, would that automatically put me in a second position on my seller financed note?

It's obvious that more data is needed to truly compare different cities accross the US.

I think it's best to compare yourself to the best competition in your market, regardless of how they are managed.

Looking for a Texas lender that can answer some questions or give opinions on doing a cash out refi on a rental property to help pay off personal debts. 

In such a case, you need to close on your A-B transaction with your own capital or that of a lender, then have a second escrow and closing with your B- C transaction.

Since we are hard money lenders most of our loan requests come from commercial mortgage brokers.  

Obviously it can be done well or poorly, like anything.My experience is that buyers still have a somewhat negative preconception of them and you won't achieve a comparable value on resale even if building costs were the same.

This team should include professionals like agents, lenders, contractors, and property managers.Lastly, connect with other investors and attend local REI networking groups and meetups.

Property taxes are really pretty cheap in NV, especially compared to TX.