I believe the best solution is for her to simply use the existing heater properly by keeping it on 24/7, as intended. ( which we already told her last year she has to keep her heat 24/7, and she say no way)Additionally, she habitually pays rent late.

To evaluate Real esteate deals for creative financing, start by identifying seller motivations i.e. financial distress, desire for passive income, do they need a downpayment on their next house, etc  and property factors like equity or existing financing terms.

The tenant is not going to extend early out of the kindness of their heart.The existing lender knows the borrower and knows the tenant well.

This way you can begin building your network (and even adding to your database of existing leads your current marketing campaign brings in). 

Are there extra steps or regulations I should know about?

What are your thoughts on purchasing an existing home versus a new build?

If the amount paid to purchase an existing note is below the principal balance or more correctly, the unpaid balance, the investor will benefit from an early payoff to the tune of the discount.  

@Josh LemonsThey have a regulation A offering which is open to accredited and non accredited investorsThe great thing is they have to submit their offering circular and have it qualified by SEC as well as submit financial information etc.All this means is the information is readily available and if you do not understand it then I recommend engaging an attorney who can interpret it.

BUT for certain rural areas it's worth it's weight in gold because of the reliability factor vs an unreliable or expensive existing utility structure. 

The purpose of my post was to make others aware of the difficulties associated with selling entry level SFH's which tend to be in neighborhoods with limited owner occupant participation and when the owner occupant participation exists the buyer pool are the least qualified of the FHA buyer pool.