Can you get in contact with your private $ lender while they're out of town to get a feel for their appetite of this loan?

Bob,At the risk of catching-one for stepping into the dance between you and Ben, I would offer up that the amount of rent being paid is the same, or close enough not to account for the heat being included {it's never free ;-)}, due to the business model of the current owner and the appetite of the market.We encountered this phenomenon quite frequently when looking at 30-40yr+ old properties.  

@Reginald Currie I would look for a local bank with a construction appetite in the area.  

While I agree tax assessments have little association with the market value of a property, I do find them to be an indicator on the financial appetite and health of the municipality/city in which the property resides.

I suppose its all about your risk appetite but with a monthly expence of 4,500 per month, if one or two of the renters don't pay, I'll be completely screwed. 

Use a RMLO id it's owner occupied.Your LC may not be compliant, worse than a NPN.Contact the usual note buyers, check with annuity and those who buy out judgments, they may have an appetite for that annuity payment.You may be able to simply borrow pledging the payments, might do better that way.Since CFD/LCs have been hammered, they are less marketable, meaning you'd take a real hit on the discount, you can save money by curing the issue yourself, getting a compliant note and deed of trust or mortgage with a Sub-To transaction if necessary.

The lender may have lost it's appetite for a certain asset class, the lender may have been bought out by another bank and they no longer offer the same financing and/or underwriting, the loan balance may have been paid down too low, other asset classes may have improved and become more attractive for the lender to put money into, regulatory requirements may have changed, etc, etc.  

My tenants have an appetite for using online payment means.

Your risk is the buyer misses payments or the investor’s appetite for your note disappears during that time.You will want to run everything by the note investor to confirm what they can do before getting locked into the note.

Investor capital requirements and risk appetite will always influence that number.