They had an 8 page application that seemed a little shady to me because it felt like they are trying to seek out inside information about the companies I worked for, like how many employees work there and what's that companies value proposition, who are their competitors, what's their competitors value proposition, etc. 

Hello Erik,It's a great company and they do a lot for their retail employees.

Your international connections could be a source of all the private investors you will need. 6 of the top 10 markets for foreign investors are in FL rounding out the list NYC, Vegas Phoenix and Honolulu.Take a good look at student housing see below.Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

Perhaps a ROBS 401k in which I am an employee or Partner of the newly created Corporation?  

The seller is ready to do 10% seller carry and I can probably do 3 to 4% down with some partner equity with new financing.I would like to work only with someone who has experience with hotels/motels specifically as I have heard lenders are very picky when it comes to lending for hotel/motel and require experience from the borrower/partnership to even look at a deal.Here is what I know about the property - Asking price - $575k10% seller carry behind new financing.Total of 16 rooms + 3 bedroom owner's/employee quartersThe property went through a lot of renovation in 20132014 room revenue - $182,250Expenses and COGS - $83,979NOI - $98,271Cap rate of about 17% with an absentee owner businessIndependent motel and does not have third-party/franchise agreementseligible for USDA financing but as I mentioned before the new borrower has to have experience with hotel/motels.Thanks

Essentially, your ROBS 401k would sponsor a real estate operating company and you would be an owner employee.  

I had enough of the afoul morality of the place and the way they treated employees in specific circumstance was unacceptable. 

Expect all locations of the California DMV to be as crowded and as foul smelling as the Southwest AirlinesTerminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

I do have a US phone number on Skype on which I talk to realtors, cash buyers etc so callers will only pay the US domestic rates, not international, so that at least is not an obstacle. 

No more trying to dodge tax bullets while continuing to be an employee ;-) So with that said, redeploying my capital (given the numbers make sense to sell) sounds like a great idea to get into something bigger with greater cashflow.