The only strategy I have seen so far, and I forget who provided it, was to try and clear as much debt as possible on single family homes and pre-qualify for HELOCs of other lines of credit to be able to start buying at the downside of the cycle.One person mentioned in a facebook group I am in, essentially, "don't worry about it, just hold everything tight and wait it out, it will correct itself."

My credit union is going to order an appraisal... what other upgrades will make the house appraise more (basically I’m looking for bang for the buck)?

Lastly, I am terribly pessimistic so take my observations with a grain of salt.

He was open and honest and said that he had bad credit but I was shocked when the application came through and he has $40k in collections as recent as March 2018.

You can find commercial departments at local banks and credit unions as well.

I am buying homes that wouldn't pass appraisal standard for the low credit/low down loans and cleaning them up and rehabbing for the first time home buyer with marginal credit etc..   

What should I do with a potential tenant buyer who says he has up to $50k to put down on a property but he has very little credit so he probably can't qualify for a mortgage in the near future? 

Try to have your personal debt under control, have a good credit score and understand you will need some cash and reserves the amount will be determine by your market.. .

I would go through my credit union with again a 30% down. by then I would have the downpaymeny as I currently have all of my capitol invested.how would you structure this deal. the seller is looking to get the money sooner rather than later.I can figure out the expenses and income. however I can provide it if need be..thank you!

My thinking with that is my negotiating position would be pretty terrible if the investor was providing money AND risk.