I’d like it to be flush with the joists so the ceiling is flat.

How often do you flush your water heater?

How much money are you losing in addition to the negative CF, because you are spending that money on a negative CF property...which amounts to the same thing as flushing it down the porcelain bus.If you invested that extra money in a positive cf property, how much are you losing? 

Could you provide cheaply built Africanized Single Family Rental (Huts).Such as a walled off small village of 20 or so grass huts, but with cement floors, individual septic systems with a proper western flush toilet in every hut, running water from a common bored well, and a couple of electrical outlets on a conduit riser coming out of the concrete.From the outside it would look like just another village, but it would be a luxury setup for those who work and earn enough to pay rent to stay there.With a good enough fence around the outside to keep the renters reasonably safe from being eaten by animals.You could probably trade things for the construction of the grass huts, and just pay for the rest.The key might just be getting close enough to a job source that pays enough year around to pay the rent, and luring people from basic grass huts to luxury grass huts.Cooking outdoors of course for safety and community togetherness.It seems like an inexpensive way to get people to pay rent--if they would be interested in such a thing....or you could just go with a more western Apartment style....

This is the simplest method, but it also means your tenants are more likely to abuse the utilities by leaving windows open with the heat or A/C running, leaving lights on, ignoring the toilet that constantly flushes on its own, etc.3.

Tenant induced damage is things like not changing your air filter and the unit freezes up, flushing wipes down the septic system and clogging it up, etc.  

Which is why I'm seeking your feedback.Disclaimer: Make some assumptions that the above has also been flushed out w/  additional common sense features.

Being that I'm not flush with cash, and the dp on something like this is ~$1,000,000, What are any suggestions on creatively making this deal happen? 

According to our plumber, it was likely caused from people flushing items down our toilet that shouldn't have been, such as "flushable wipes".  

Winterizing hosebibs and sprinklers, gutters, furnace filters and water heater flushes.