Like many new investors, I had little cash and no access to traditional lenders.

If your gut is casting doubt on it, you need to listen - even if you can make mathematical sense of it.

I use the BP Calculator to analyze all my deals.

Come on Collin, your Gatlinburg brotha, at least try to make this hard on me. 

Make sure pool is listed on your insurance policy.

I worked as a firefighter so I got the building construction from that background and then the transaction and numbers I got with working within/alongside investors that were in the business doing the stuff I wanted to do.

.: Is it legal, per the IRS, to rent my primary home back to myself? 

If they have the money they pay. if they don't have the money an automatic payment fails and probably charges them an overdraw fee making them a little LESS able to pay you. 

The one thing I am unsure about is how earnest money works when you have yet to find a willing buyer to assign the contract to?

I've personally invested and work with investors - it's critical to get your numbers right on the front end.