But when I add in the cost of paying on the HELOC as well, it gets even farther from penciling.

My guess is yes in which case, get a copy of the document and let the family pay the back rent. 

Are you planning on it being a super quick flip and don't want to pay the rates on a bridge loan?

I'm sure you will gain some interest from potential investors then maybe they can supply you with the down payments and you can pay them back over time and you could buy more per year.From what I know, business is a slow game and from what I hear, successful Real Estate Investing can be boring.

It's very hard to remain anonymous in CA, and while a great goal, often comes at the cost of a very cumbersome structure to maintain, explain, and pay for in the meantime. 

They didn’t except said that I should pay double since not returning in 30 days… I offered to even return the full deposit and to go separate ways.

I rented to house within 3 weeks and they are paying to the LLC bank account and I am paying the mortgage with the LLC account. 

Unfortunately only about 5 applications have been fully submitted and all of them have failed to show proof that they can afford to pay the rent and provide the proper references.

We know we'd still have to pay for the solar, but it'd be nice to get a two-for-one and pay over time rather than all at once. 

I can't afford to pay off the 500K myself and either can the tenant for a downpayment.