In our experience, the #1 mistake landlords make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.

Many of them earn far higher wages than you assume, and their contributions help sustain industries, Social Security, and economic growth.

This was assuming 10% for maintenance and 10% for vacancy. 

I think your biggest issue with any "work-arounds" is going to be your legal liability and holding the proper insurance in case something goes wrong, which I'm going to assume you'd need to be properly licensed in order to be properly covered by insurance.

This would have allowed the investor to secure their interest against the asset while also benefiting from any equity appreciation upon the eventual sale (assuming the plan is to flip).

This should be able to help out your DTI assuming 75% of the market rents can fully cover the monthly debt. 

Assuming a 340k purchase price that would be 34,750 out of pocket.   

You've left it to us to assume that you are charging under market rent which doesn't cover your costs. 1) Once you've figured out what you could be charging the public, knock a little off for a friends/family discount and present them with legal leases.

Assume that you're sitting on:$200,000 in suspended passive losses$150,000 in business losses$100,000 in expiring NOLsThe Magic Transformation:That $500,000 of "painful" ordinary income becomes your strategic advantage:Absorbs all $450,000 of those otherwise-stranded lossesLeaves you with just $50,000 net ordinary incomeMeanwhile, your §1250 gain still gets preferential rates:$581,820 at 25% max (unrecaptured §1250)$700,000 at 20% max (capital gain)The Plot Twist:What looked like a tax nightmare actually solved multiple problems.

I'm assuming you don't use them anymore?