You could force the seller to bring it up to code before the sale is complete as one of the contingencies of buying it, let them deal with it.

Buy the property with seller finance & finish it up.Tahoe is a great short rental area

I've considered going Dave Ramsey and buying a house with cash and upping my budget to $100k in a smaller market, but that would blow almost all my savings, and $100k just doesn't get you much anymore.

There will be many situations where you can help a homeowner save their home -  however, in other situations they just want to sell quickly which provides a wholesale, fix/flip, buy/hold opportunity for you. 

We have 60 rentals12 air bb units, Ohio  and Fla. 15-20  flips and wholesales, between buy and sell close at any point. 

if there is appreciation, but you wouldn’t sell your current home tax free and buy a neighboring home to rent out, (There by raising your cost basis for additional depreciation and lower capital gains tax.) then it probably doesn’t make a good rental property. . 

Historically in EBR, though, once the exemption is in place, it is unlikely to be removed unless the property is reassessed, there is a complaint, or some other action occurs to bring non-owner occupancy to light, such as buying a new primary residence in the parish.

His team is adding a course on buying businesses, and they are also working on adding Real Estate College Semesters and learning badges. 

Investment Info:Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Buy some books and start learning how to manager your property now.