That seems incredibly low–does this mean that they've paid off the original mortgage to a point where they own 98.2% of the home?

It looks like they've sunk to all time lows.

Principal paydown, tax advantages, low down payment, monthly cash flow.

For example Santa Monica median sfr peak pre reccession was 850K and the low during the reccession was 825K.

After completing a 3 year DIY whole home remodel, in 2017, I turned a 30k personal loan (initially a 20k, but we ran low and refinanced it to a 30) into 115k sweat equity. 

My husband and I have been running a heating and AC biz for over 3 years now, we do it all; commercial, residential, new construction, equipment replacements, custom duct design & fabrication, service, maintenance, repairs...

They do require much greater hands on management as they generally have very low personal social standards.

You don't think that this deal would appeal to a landlord who is interested in immediate cash flow for a low down payment?

Based on my limited experience of this I was thinking the down payment was a little low and the interest rate was a little low.

The heat didn’t work on the property and the temperature has fallen below 10 degrees here in Chicago.