I treat all things in life as an experiment and to make myself not beat myself up over the "lost profit", I began to consider profits as a gauge on whether or not I'm winning in this GAME.

This is a symbiotic, win-win kinda field.  

2- Am I right to assume that even if I win the bid at this auction, the mortgage/lien not showing up on the county's record will still exist?

In this case, you have to really sharpen your sales skills because I lot of people will be calling and it will be up to you to win their trust quickly. 5.

The numbers obviously don't show that.This is a totally personal opinion - who is winning in this deal?

It's truly win-win.When you have gurus persuading newbies to pony up $41,000 for a mentoring program - there's no way that can become win-win.

I know that there are many different ways to have a deal be a win-win for all parties involved, rather than taking advantage of people to get ahead.

Which I though, was a win-win scenario for me and him, since my workers spend 20-30k per month on building materials and they might as well save money by using Home Depot's gift card that I could buy from Phillip at a discount.

Now we are getting somewhere :)My attorney told me a long time ago - "Banks and insurance companies always win."

It's been a win-win for me because of the durability.