Trying to calculate accumulated interest on the outstanding rent balance is too much effort for what you will collect ...

I am quite sure a bank is going to want the players to have a lot of experience in the space... very good balance sheet.. and probably have the land paid for in cash.. as their skin in the game.. with those ingredients you can get this done. 

If I were you, I would float buying it off the owner before the foreclosure and see what happens.The key words in the OP's post was "Principle Balance".

Personally, this market also strikes the balance of being somewhat close to home, while remaining far enough to force me into building scalable relationships and business processes.What I can offer: I am continuing to learn about real estate and am several months away from the capital necessary to finance my first deal.

No harm in that.I paid off a bunch but the lowest rate was 6%+ and they were seller-financed or commercial,  representing more pain and risk than what you most likely have.Last consideration is if you have a small balance loan but are running into conventional loan limits of 4 or 10. 

My condo under construction in Tulum I paid 30% down and the developer is financing me for the balance of 70%.

Otherwise, if I try to balance my time between work and real estate, it could take me a year or so. 

(*You could also hire your own appraiser, just for your own edification and for some degree of checks and balances.

We kept the bank balances very low and documented everything we could. 

It's a clause in most mortgages that once the loan has defaulted, you can accelerate the loan to make the full balance due now instead of over the full term.