You also don't need to do a traditional long term strategy, is there a draw the  area that playing host to a traveling nurse or other professional/student would be interested? 

The seller is open to seller financing, which presents an incredible opportunity to grow without traditional bank financing.

This gives you a foundation for making a fair offer.Secure Financing: Be prepared to show you’re a serious buyer with funding lined up, whether through cash, traditional financing, or a creative option like seller financing.Have a Strategy for Repairs or Development: If the property is distressed, outline how you’ll handle improvements to bring it back to productive use.

Unlike traditional banks and credit unions, we don't face the same constraints, allowing us to offer more flexibility.

I’d love to take advantage of a “traditional” mortgage (or even FHA?)

Traditional residential home loan.How did you add value to the deal?

This is not “student housing” in the traditional sense - even the vacancy risk doesn’t exist as it’s a 12 month lease / they work over the summer there, etc.  

Will likely take longer to close than a traditional hard money (they have to order an appraisal, satisfy lender conditions etc..).

Honestly have never touched the traditional mortgage side of the bank. 

You would only pay taxes on all passive investments in a traditional SDIRA at distribution, unless you have a mortgage, then the portion of the income derived because of the mortgage will be subject to UDFI (unrelated debt finance income) which will trigger UBIT (unrelated business income tax).