I’m nervous that they require all these fees up front and I’m finding bad review after bad review about how they tie up a bunch of money and they change price, change their reserve, etc when there is any interest.

The balance is about $250,000 and I currently have a loan with Wells Fargo that is tied up to the prime rate.

IE those with no real money tying up properties on a hope and prayer and the owner ends up losing it in foreclosure when they could have sought  other remedies..   

Hard to come by obviously but they are out there :)Our group passed on a senior living facility last year when it was worth about $13m due to our capital being tied up at that moment, fast forward to today and it is now cash flowing 15% per year and worth about $20m or so due to the new owners optimizing the property as we likely would have.

I know the interest rate is directly tied to risk and neighborhood, first lien, performing etc.

If your using a student loan for your college you need to sit down and figure out if the education is worth the loan you'll have tied around your neck for half your life (or more).  

And for you - if your coming across great deals all the time if I were in your shoes I would get a deal done and find out if the private lender your speaking with can help you scale.Good news is if you came across a bad “private lender” that stol your deal and you have access to more deals then no biggie.

never skimp on inspections, legal services or comfortable shoes.

If they don't have a signed release, then things could get tied up for a long while until they figure it out.    

You want to try and tie in additional professionals to review and help guide you through the process.