Has anyone out there done this sort of seller financed deal and if so how did it work out and was it worth the effort to improve returns on an otherwise modest deal?

The reason I wanted not to be added to the loan is that you don’t really know what is going to happen with the economy and if things will not work out only one of us will end up with bad credit.

The more I learn things like this, the more comfortable I feel - some of my early fears about this niche were having to directly contact a delinquent borrower to work out a note, or having to cold call a bunch of banks to find notes, are consistently being proven incorrect and the usual/best way to handle such things are methods I'm more comfortable with personally.  

My last venture with my friends didn't work out because life had other plans for us all.

Things might not work out on this one but you might build a relationship with the banker and find another foreclosure in the process.

If it's still 10k below your max for the deal to work out, I would go ahead with the 25% repairs.

If that doesn't work out look into private money and hard money. 

If for some reason she shows up, just be matter of fact that you'll only be a few minutes and that you're simply doing a routine inspection. 

Your broker might not be happy that you are choosing an alternative route, but at the cost savings of your current volume and the state of the South Jersey market it could be worth putting up on Zillow as a FSBO for a week long period and if it doesn't work out, list it.Best of luck.

I don't know if using most of the equity in your personal residence during these times, but it is still a viable option if PML and HML don't work out in your favor.