The property itself should bring in revenue ( even if you choose not to live in one side) and generally a bank will accept a portion of that rental income into the calculation. 

It's important to get started on these as soon as the offer is accepted because the municipalities can be slow to respond and schedule the inspections.

Maybe one of your lowball offers gets accepted.  

You will never know the right number until you have a chance to inspect and get contractor bids, which will typically happen after an offer is accepted. 

Some lenders will not accept appraisals that were ordered by another lender or are beyond xx months old.

Some hosts also accept bank transfers, but you’ll want to ensure payments clear well in advance of their stay.

What I love about them is they will even accept the higher lease amounts over the market rents if we can show first month's rent and security deposit.

Gives you time to go do more deals and get more contracts accepted for the next one. 

My humble advice to anyone attempting to do creative finance is:Creative finance is for experienced investors who have access to capital if anything goes wrong.Learn the lawsDon't use a contract "off the internet", laws vary by state and are also regulated on a federal levelLearn the financing techniques correctlyDon’t skip parts of the processDon’t ever do a “kitchen table” closingUse the proper deedAn attorney can help you with the legal work, but the rest you are on your ownYour guru will not bail you out“Investing” in someone else’s deal by providing a small 2nd loan so the “investor” can pay for “cash to the seller” and for “closing costs” so he can do the deal is a very bad planKnow what problems can ariseLearn the responses and solutions to problems before they are neededKnow everything there is to know about Title and what that meansKnow who a "protected class" individual isLearn the "back doors"Learn human natureUnderstand timelinesUnderstand regulation enforcement (some of these "mistakes" have a 10 year statue of limitations ( they can charge you 10 years AFTER you do the transaction) and carry hefty fines and possible imprisonmentThe court doesn't accept "I didn't know" for an answer"Know that the source of the lead plays a serious role in some states and federallyKnow how much of a "profit" pushes the boundaries to invite an investigationYou can be sued by the seller if you don’t do things correctlyYou are automatically at fault if an investigator or attorney or regulator gets involved.

I do agree that I think they're having growing pains, but unfortunately that isn't the kind of thing I can afford to just accept when I'm choosing a company to go with.