The marriage that last are those that the partners are heading in the same direction and you two are spot on.  

Is it a decision by committee, the head of the HOA, or is it you alone who gets to make that decision?  

As you said, commercial loans are a different monster and I'm having a difficult time wrapping my head around it. 

That was my head start and honestly I didn't know anything about investments but I knew I didn't want to sell.

One of the fundamental lessons that is drilled into our heads starting on the very first day of basic training is to never give up.  

.- What city are you heading to?

U have come to the right place, it sounds like u have a huge head start with ur background so all power to u as u embark on ur journeyMy advice wud be too sign up for the weekly webinars they are seriously epic, and with all the other tools available I strongly believe if u can put together a good deal then u will be able to find a hard money investor for sure, I've learnt that it's about how good and clear is the deal to bring in ROIAlso stick around daily and get aquainted with the surroundings and like minded people, I have learnt so much just from reading threads and interacting!...

I think your head on with your comments. 

Thanks for the heads up on the website error. 

If you are going to be there 3-5 years more, you can do small jobs around the house to fix it up while saving more money and paying down the debt.I am a big fan of paying off the debt as soon as you can so it doesn't hang over your head.