I have been calling lenders to see if I can do a VA cash-out refinance, and it seems that because the family short-term rental property cannot prove that it is being serviced (no year lease in place) that debt is too much for me to try to get a cash-out refinance. 

But assignment of debt can create equity ownership and basis for depreciation, in general.

You hold a 2nd and are trying to help the borrower negotiate a short on the 1st so he can short sell.For those who've dealt with this scenario can you give some idea of a percent success rate getting the 1sts to accept debt forgiveness?

Living in North Myrtle Beach, I see buyers buying houses that do not make money and sellers selling houses for far less than they should.I urge you to get fully educated regarding operating expenses, operating income, net operating income, return on equity, capitalization rate, debt service, capital reserves, the difference between capital and maintenance expenses, and a host of other topics.  

However, it would also depend on other factors such as your monthly debt payments and how much rental income the property could produce.

There's a reasonable chance that I could qualify for a $1 million conventional home loan (based on my income, debt-to-income ratio and excellent credit score) and I could ask him if he'd be willing to wait for the 45-60 day close on the conventional loan (which he may be ok with, if he's selling to me); however, I only have about $30k to put down (not the $200k+ required for 20% down plus closing costs). 

With interest rates [still] so low, and inflation being what it is, I’m looking to pile on the cheap debt wherever I can find it!

forgive me if you know all this already. 

The risk to pay attention to with commercial debt is the balloon.

So I spent the next few years learning, and reading, and improving my credit, and paying off debts, and increasing my income, and eventually, years later, I bought a house!