In my instance they grossly over promised and when they knew they weren't going to be able to deliver, they began dragging out the process of providing final terms to the point where the window to switch to alternative financing becomes too narrow and you're basically indebted to them.

But are you saying, in this particular instance, that the new roommate suddenly gets credit for 50% of the deposit?

Hi James,You need provide more data :) for instance, if your home is $200k, not expecting a lot of appreciation in next few years, and only rents for $1200 a month, then yeah i'd say sell it, and use that cash to invest in other properties that generates more returns.On the other hand if the property is located in a highly appreciating neighborhood, and you can rent for a pretty good cashflow, then i'd say put a HELOC on it, and sell the house when it appreciates more. 

In every instance (at least the schools where my kids went to in NY), the leases were for 12 months although they are really only there for 9. 

For instance, I've heard some investors talking about that they like to be close to the big hospital because that is going nowhere and jobs are going to stay.

For instance, if you are cash flowing $100/month, I don't think that is enticing enough to justify the risk and work.I hope this insight helps you out.

For instance, if you can program websites and run FB ads pretty well and you notice that an investor in your area that you'd like to partner with could use some help in that area, then work on building a site (basic or robust) for them to use in marketing and then try to get together with them and show them how to use it for their business. 

It's not a hands off investment to earn a 30% IRR.Remember, high tech programmers and doctors are famous for making bad decisions with their money (high earners in desirable places to live), because we thought we knew better than the hedge funds, family offices, and insurance companies who spend $MM on market research ..

our Dry Wall contractor for instance has 600 employees and a nice JET.. lol.. 

For me to make a profit, and also to incorporate all the moving parts into one P&S.I just thought it odd how broad of a scope the contract was covering by stating "ANY surplus funds shall be the exclusive property of SPS"Thank you for the responseIf you are the one buying (in the first instance), then "surplus funds" are obviously not an issue, because then it wouldn't be a short sale after all.