The key is owner occupancy if you have limited capital to put down.  

Its all about getting the right team in place, once you got that, you can tackle any project, Also, check in with your state, they may have an additional program for first time owner occupants. 

Think what happens to the occupant if the loan gets called and you as the sub2 purchaser - owner can not refi the loan? 

They did not just file bankruptcy or close EquityBuild, they did not walk away from their investors, they worked through the issue and then made adjustments to their procedures to insure a similar situation does not occur in the future.You also mentioned housing or building court cases files against EquityBuild and that is very true, but you need to remember they are buying distressed properties, most with existing building violations that they are assuming, and then repairing the properties to resolve the issues and obtain occupancy certifications for the buildings.

Commercial RE (apartments, office, industrial, etc), HML are different animals and the people involved in those transactions are interested in cap rates, income/expense ratios, etc and interest rates affect their decisions differently because they are making business decisions whereas, owner-occupants for the most part are not making 100% business decisions when buying a house to live in.And I'll be more specific to California RE because that's where I'm from and where I do business.

Also, do you specialize in investment properties as well from a real estate agent stand point, or do you primarily focus on owner/occupants?

She takes an estate for (5) years, which means she has control/occupancy for 5 years, then the ownership reverts to you, the remainderman, and the final $25K note is due. 

It's even nicer that this falls over football season because normally those are not peak hotel occupancy times anyway.

I would check with a real estate attorney in your area to see if the rules change in buying an owner occupied note and either evicting the occupant and taking over the property.

Will's occupant from hell post is an example of how that can getcha.