I have been tossing them to the side because my lack of knowledge in the area of short sales, but I feel like that might be a mistake to do.

Use your knowledge to check and screen the contractors, not show how smart you are up front (they wont care).

@Andrew Glavinic - To the best of my knowledge, the forms are residential only.

To my knowledge, a real estate company wouldn't be classified as a financial services company.

That plus my knowledge of how the economy functions helps a lot.Nose to the grindstone isn't a chore if you have a passion for it.Good Luck!

I have no knowledge of real estate but I would love to learn.

Every month if necessary and they can stop it by paying all applicable fees every month should they not pay in time.

I have so much respect for those on this forum that help out and am so thankful from the knowledge I've gained from browsing over the years.As to my question, I am looking to secure a second lien position with a personal guarantee on a hard money loan in Pasadena, CA. 

I have a complex financial picture with RRSPs in Canada, RI in Canada, IRA/401k and other stocks/bonds in the US, vacation rental US,.. while I have confidence in my ability I also recognize that there are limits to my knowledge and speed at which I can learn (e.g. tax implications in two countries, ugh!).

I am just starting to invest so my knowledge and experience is not the best but the market in Montreal is very aggressive from what I am noticing and houses get sold in a matter of days.