A short sale is a normal sale, except that the lender agrees to accept less than the full amount they're owed. 

I would then take out a HELOC to leverage the equity she has built up over the years (current value of the home is about $800k) for a down payment on an investment property or two.I was recently advised that putting the house in a trust, rather than adding my name to the deed, and putting myself as a beneficiary would be smart for estate planning purposes and give me access to commercial loan options as well as residential.However, I want to know if there is a major difference between the amount I would qualify for on the HELOC if I were to apply as a Trust or as an individual.I would assume either way the bank would be looking at my income to debt ratio and make a judgment that way.I appreciate the feedback!

That 30k net profit is a good amount of cash you can use to finance a few deals, depending on where you're buying.

Right now you are just hoping your seller doesn't get a judgement attached to 'your' houses.Conventional loans are pretty easy (small amounts aside) to get up to 4. 

If you can keep the same rental amounts, but change it to monthly billing with a decent quality of tenants you should be good to go.

Could you qualify for a 350k loan amount?

And keep our properties free and clear to keep that large amount on cash- flow coming in ?

If the lien has been recorded, it will be public record.If the HOA has a property manager, they *might* divulge the back amounts, but technically they aren't supposed to discuss an account with anybody but the homeowner.So if it's not filed, you may not get to find out.

There was a good amount of of discussion regarding this.

These guys own 5-10% of the MLS leads I'm marketing to and a good amount of seller's I speak to are less motivated because they have an offer from Opendoor/Offerpad, etc.