[Yes, they survived the dramas that time].The main thing about that episode was: the comps were VERY well known and established; a gated community.Whereas, a "rural neighborhood with very spread out lots and 2-3 acre pieces of land" might be HARD to comp!

They "fail" because they need to make, say, $50,000 to survive their debt obligations and only make $25k their first year and quit.

The primary one is what liens survive foreclosure in your jurisdiction.  

Nope the lease survives a sale in Texas.You might be able ot do cash for keys if they are willing to move out and sign a document changing the end date on the lease.Otherwise you are stuck until the lease ends.

We are still in buy mode and looking for opportunities.

Can the deal 'profit margin', survive or make sense after an extension?

If you and your brother go 50/50 on the first one, have a discussion afterwards regarding each other's work load and expectations to see if that profit sharing model is feasible.Happy investing!

Most spaces are not profitable or very sustainable even, but they could make good tenants of the business model is solid. really depends on the individual business owners to make it happen.

Thanks for the mention @Eric TrostleAs an investor, I joined Equity when it was just getting started because the model is incredibly investor friendly.As Eric mentioned, the fit with the broker is among the most important things. 

Though a friend of mine who owns about 20 properties has built his company on the "roommate" model. I