Part of the motivation for congress writing Dodd Frank was to clamp down on the investors offering preditory terms re  rent to own and seller financing and that view has carried into craigslist rent to own adds and you say zillow. 

A short-term rental with a stay of 7 days or less + Material participation =also non passive.

OK... thank you for the detailed response.

I've worn three hats in the seller financing world (as a property buyer, as a property seller offering terms, and as an investor that buys seller financed note). 

I provide short term rental furnishing and renovation finish list that includes paint colors, light fixtures, cabinets etc.

come on now.. we all know these are fake lenders.. its simply not real.longer term fully doc  sure.. 

I have an opportunity to make a quick 30k in equity, but only cash flow around $25 — if I look at long term appreciation, that seems to make sense to me, but am I overlooking something and trying to make this work?

So it's a loan....You just detailed a loan. 

Could you send me a dm with the details?

Then once it's acquired and/or fixed up you could shop around for long term financing if planning on holding the property rather than flipping it.