Very well played, Dawn!...

Taxes are what they are, an expense that should be built into the rent creating a level playing field for all landlords.  

I am going to play devils advocate on your thought process of cheaper money compared to local HML.Crowd funding will make a little dent.. but its very very hard to take customers away from their existing lenders.

So, I'm assuming from the overwhelming silence, that lease options are pretty much dead? 

Hey there Detarus, coincidentally or not, I just read about you in a basketball article, you're playing some Pro-Am at the Courts, right?

Will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

If they say the numbers won't work, that's your opening to ask if you could help out for experience; if they ignore you or don't offer anything constructive, you know it's a dead end without having asked for a handout.

It's just part of the game, if you decide to play.  

In fact it's a rather lovely LTV rate for the lending institution, very secure for them.For a primary residence I wouldn't monkey around with the value play too much. 

Here is a cool link that allows you to play around with your mortgage rate.