If he didn't pay it off you can often work backwards from the info given in the registered mortgage to figure out approximately how much he still owes on the property, assuming a reasonable interest rate for that year and also assuming that he didn't make any extra payments of principal in the intervening years.You might also want to access the tax collector's website in that town to see if he's behind in his property tax payments.  

If you want to be cashed out for the full principal amount , perhaps the better route to take here is to make a loan with a balloon payment at the point where you need them to refinance and cash you out. 

Offer to give the Borrower a letter which details the Original Balance, Principal Paydown and the 105 on time payments.  

If things start looking different, such as 'this is really for my friend' or 'I don't quite have all the money now' or other non-sense, you are not dealing with a principal.

Another down side is that your leverage floats at the same interest rate, if rates increase, all of your properties are effected.The up side is some financing costs can be reduced, settlement costs, but each property still must be appraised, title search and insurance, 20/25% down as to the total loan to value of collateral (TLTV), so in the end, they aren't significantly cheaper, points may be less, that depends too on other underwriting factors.Loan servicing matters are easier, an excuse for a better rate if you can negotiate that, but on your side, your accountant then allocates interest and principal reduction from total loan figures.

In terms of principal and interest payment I would be shooting for 1100/month as my max. 

No investor is going to give you money so you can defer interest and principal to maturity.  

For the same payment, more money is going towards principal.

As long as you are acting as a principal in the transaction, you do not have to be licensed to conduct your RE Investing Co.

While you DO need education, you don't need expensive seminars, at least not now while you're learning general principals of RE.