I am not 100% sure where you are from but I am a realtor/investor in MA and have great connections with great lenders if you want me to send you in the right direction!!!

I can certainly appreciate the preference of books to really deepen your learning -- but I'd lean on those podcasts and videos to at least give yourself a direction to go in as far as what you want to be doing.

If you want to operate as a co-host, you'll need the property owners name on the lease and the rent payments need to go directly to the owner.

This is rare.The way to find the above, and more specifically to answer your direct question, is to work with a broker versed in the type of product you are looking to develop.

Hey Elton,If you contact me directly I'll give you thee name of someone I've used in your area. 

I also have a partner with a full time job and great credit score as well, so maybe my best option would be to include him and have him apply for the mortgage.

Quote from @Joseph Milano: I would talk to the renter to see what they want to do.The easiest method is to get tenant's permission to apply the funds toward their next month of rent.If they prefer the money back, I would issue them a check, money order, or cashier check when they sign the new lease.

Yesterday, tenant found listing on furnished finder and made specific requests and they were hoping to get in that day, so I told them they could deposit cash in my bank and I would email the lease directly, which I did.

And on that note, never send money directly to a borrower! 

It seemed like they didn't have much data for my area, and looked like they were applying the same comps for the whole zip code, even though my area can vary a lot based on the sub-neighborhood.