They actually had a tenant in the basement during their 2nd flood, and their solution was to move the tenant up to the 1st floor since it was already conveniently vacant.  

Anything paying more than 12% will require an exceptional property manager to keep the rent coming, you need to be monitor your property manager carefully if you get into that business.

If it's possible to inject concrete, then that's an alternate solution.

I would like to try and buy a multi-family and I guess I will just continue to monitor throughout the winter to see if a deal REALLY jumps out at me.

A good solution for you might be to use a Monetized Installment Sale instead of a 1031 exchange.

Did you ever find a solution to this?

So now I'm calling all the QuickenLoans and Loan Depot's of country and no one will touch it because: A) Its not my primary residence B) I haven't owned it for a year C) The private lender isn't reporting the monthly payments to a credit bureau so I don't have a verifiable proof of payment D) Been doing AirBnB, so no lease (if I wanted to get 2nd home or rental property financing)Solutions I'm aware of: 1) Most loan officers have suggested I call a local credit union, which I have done> The credit unions are concerned because it's not my primary and I don't have  lease in place with proof of payments via bank statements.

I am looking for a creative solution to get around the 2 year freelancing income rule.

Investor physician with strong income and low personal debt looking for solutions to refinance some of portfolio and pull out some equity for further investing with history of Foreclosure on personal property in 2012. 

I sell staffing solutions and consulting services to companies.