b) offer to bring some of the above friends and family in as equity partners and share the gain (more returns for partners, more paperwork for all, less return for me)c) are there other alternatives I should consider to close my cash gap?

b) offer to bring some of the above friends and family in as equity partners and share the gain (more returns for partners, more paperwork for all, less return for me)c) are there other alternatives I should consider to close my cash gap?

Alternatively, the bridge loan can be a smaller second or third mortgage on top of existing loans.

Another alternative would be to look for a structured situation like a lease purchase in a nicer area.Good luck to you! 

While I am willing to risk the equity itself, I'm not comfortable risking foreclosure.Is there any technique or guidance to mitigate the risk of losing my house in this scenario?

Good afternoon Kyle.I live in Burlington County NJ, right near where Monmouth and Ocean come together.I became a broker because when I got involved in investing over 10 years ago the gurus said you needed a good realtor on your team.I decided if that was such an important component, why not just become one.So while I am happy whenever I do a retail real estate transaction, my bigger objective is to work for myself and with other investors building a portfolio.Residential real estate is great for some agents, and it is important to stay involved with it to know what a home buyer wants, but for me there are too many emotions involved.Investment property is a business.It can be approached rationally, and the numbers either work or they don’t.There are many posts on Bigger Pockets stating the pros and cons of local vs long distance investing.I personally invest in areas that I know and can visit.If I were you I would not be discouraged about investing in Monmouth.You may need to use more of the creative financing techniques.

Custodians tend to take a more conservative approach when reviewing alternative assets for investment, as they want to avoid the custody of any assets that may be involved in prohibited transactions.

I was thinking it be a smart idea to reach out the seller directly and try come up with an alternative method of financing; maybe to keep the banks out of the deal for now but keep the seller good on their mortgage payments- which I'm presuming is the issue bringing about the short sale in the first place? 

For example, Fidelity offers a brokerage account for the self-directed solo 401k provided by third-party companies and the account owner can write checks out of the Fidelity brokerage account for the alternative investments (e.g., real estate, precious metals, notes, etc), and the remaining funds can be invested in stocks and mutual funds. 

If it levels off that shows stability but if it does the same as 2008 then maybe it would be smarter to save up and build alternative credit to attack the market when it falls?