I also know that they "didn't know about the sale ahead of time", so I have to imagine that played a role in the lien. 

Almost zero but normally they play nicely.7.

Trying to save money by foregoing insurance is playing russian roulette.

take your bonus, pay down the home and sell it. not much creativity that can be had. if you try and short sell it the banks could still come back after you and it will crush your credit. chalk it up to a very expensive lesson learned - was it driven by FOMO of feeling like you needed to invest because everyone else was making money?

I will play devil's advocate here. 

As mentioned if the holding company is not solely holding or owning assets together funneling monies as a loan would further complicate if there is a default but also cause you to file extra tax returns = $...Yes you are taxed on interest income or any money that you make, does not matter how you structure it, what comes into play is not how much your taxed but how much you pay someone to figure out for you how much you need to pay and each layer is an added cost. 

So I was playing musical chairs with them much as you might with credit card balance transfers.  

A syndication will only pay out quarterly and the bonus is towards the end when then sell/re-refi etc.  

You'll see the usage drop significantly once they start to play for it.Get three quotes from HVAC companies, and if you don't have any I would ask contractors and realtors for referralsGino

Some of the further out areas seem like a good investment and appreciation play but I personally don't want to live out there yet.