Or are you saying you essentially take over their mortgage as the beneficiary ?

You are taking out a first mortgage on the property and essentially walking away with a check for the equity at closing.

If you want to see how extreme things can get in Hawaii, just look back to the 1990s (25 years ago) and look at the prices Japanese banks/investors were willing to pay for some assets.And then, there is the whole issue of historically low interest rates - real interest rates (after inflation) are essentially free, but that is a topic in and of itself.

While I have decided to slow down investing locally due the oil price drop surely there would be folks who have advice on what to do in these situations and have gone through this cycle before. 

Short answer "Narcissistic Supply"Narcissistic supply is a concept introduced into psychoanalytic theory by Otto Fenichel in 1938, to describe a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment and essential to their self-esteem.[1]The term is typically used in a negative sense, describing a pathological or excessive need for attention or admiration from codependents, or such a need in the orally fixated, that does not take into account the feelings, opinions or preferences of other people.Keep in mind, narcissists need lots of money to keep up their facade.

But essentially, pretty much every traditional scam you can think of starts with a greedy mark who wants discounts and freebies.In reading through this list, it's clear that the vast majorities of these require a greedy mark.  

It is essential that when starting out you take time, to build these strong foundations.

Coal miners are rough, scratch that, VERY VERY ROUGH on their housing - same as oil workers. but if their employers are fitting the housing bill, you can charge them for maintenance. 

If you're planning to assign your contracts, it's essential that you become very versed in contracts, contract law, etc. so you will know how to properly structure a contract and make it valuable to and end buyer/assignee. 

Essentially you can't use leveraged money to pay for the 20% down I'm learning?