though; (1) there are tenants in the house on a two year lease (payments are enough to cover mortgage payments), and (2) the Seller wants the option to buy back the property in two years.

What if the person staying at your place signed a contract but their 1st payment check bounced.

If you can come up with an extra 1.5% and finance with a conventional loan you have none of those downsides, a lower monthly payment and PMI only until you hit 20% equity

At some sales they will even accept payment the day of the sale during the auction if that property has not been sold yet. 

However, I don’t yet have the funds for a down payment on another house, and I’m trying to figure out the best option for where to live while I rent the apartment.Do you have any recommendations for managing this transition or tips on finding a temporary place to stay?

However, Cincinnati HUD is apparently backed up so we've yet to see the payments for the rented units from October. 

Hello Kyle,When screening applications for the properties that I manage, I always look for:- Income of at least 3 times the monthly rent (verified through the employer)- Credit score of 580+- Rental verification with past landlords (no outstanding balances, no late payments, and the property left in acceptable condition)- No history of collections, evictions, or criminal offenses- No overdue debt (except medical debt)I have found this screening standard very helpful when finding tenants who pay on time and treat the property well!

Even if you only owe $26,000 on the loan, your payment will still be the same.

I offer an online payment portal to submit rent payments via ACH or CC - they "couldn't figure out how to use it" so I set us up to accept Zelle payments.

The seller would need to include a clause saying what you CAN'T do, which is what a pre-payment penalty would address.