Figuring this WHY out is imperative to align your goals to your action plan. 

Are you mid block away from most of the commercial action?

You have to believe it and you have to make a plan and take action.

California has some of the strongest consumer protection laws around, so if it exists here I must assume it exists in New Jersey. 

We were now approaching a year since I had lent the money and the project still wasn't completed so I had my lawyer seek legal action. 

The bigger point is, if you transfer the title after you get the loan, know that there is a chance you could get called on it and be sure to have weighed and discussed your options with your partner so you can take appropriate action to resolve.

IN TEXAS, do not give a L/O or CFD to a consumer. 

@Daniel Sweet Congrats on taking action.

Beyond the first few properties, I would like to invest more aggressively in larger properties and alternative financing.I have been researching real estate for the past 2 years and feel like it is finally time to put my plans into action.

I plan to start a youtube channel to talk about my beginner's journey in real estate investing where I talk to an audience about my action steps to getting started in investing in Midwest such as how I formed a LLC and film clips of distressed properties that I tour on-site and my real-time thinking on how I evaluate properties and the steps on buying a property.