We were helping a friend renovate a house which had been home to a heavy smoker: one room was so bad - owner had smoked in the same chair for 30 years - that we had to replace the sheet rock on the walls and ceiling.There have been some studies in the past few years showing that the chemicals from cigarette smoke, even when encapsulated with paint, eventually come to the surface exposing future residents, in particular young children.  

I have been trying to find if there is a wall assembly material that can act as stuctural, shear strength, insulative, interior surface and exterior surface.

Once you rehab it and maybe put $50k of "sweat equity into it", it would be worth $200k, but they would sell it to you for $150k seller financing after the down payment.So, on the surface it sounds great because you aren't coming out of pocket, but in reality if you have the means to close the deal in cash or with any kind of financing like a hard money loan you would likely be better off. 

Quote from @Robin Simon: Quote from @Erik Estrada: Don has a harsh way of putting it, but on the surface, I completely agree. 

I had surfaces that just wouldn't hold paint.

A year of rent sounds great on the surface but I'm wondering why they wouldn't just pursue a normal year long (long term) rental...maybe they've been bad renters or have bad credit or low income.

@Scott TrenchPeople thought last year we reached the peak but reality is we are just scratching the surface as many deals that were in trouble were hoping for rates to come down have not - so it’s gonna get worse before it gets betterThis one seems sketch to me honestly as if original poster is reading this why wait four years ?

The grass is not always necessarily greener, though it may appear to be on the surface. 

I'm not sure how this could be structured so speak with a lender but on the surface that would be great if you could get two properties with zero down.

A year of rent sounds great on the surface but I’m wondering why they wouldn’t just pursue a normal year long rental…maybe they’ve been bad renters or have bad credit or low income.