Keeping the rental and option to purchase separate will help protect you in the case of a default so you can evict instead of having a judge force you to go through a foreclosure because a tenant claims equitable interest.

Your LTV will be close to 100% (based on purchase price) if you do it any other way and you won't have any way to claim your sweat equity/improvements against the LTV.  

I'd be far more worried about discrimination claims by screening to some undocumented process.  

BTW, filing a L/O just may give notice to the lender that there is an installment sale, filing an option does not tie up a property as the gurus claim, I can buy the property from the owner subject to the option and allow you to continue under your intended transaction, if you don't buy, I own the property.   

Can I do a Quit Claim Deed or a Special Warranty Deed.

Additional method is to claim all as income including tips, so you can track your income through tax returns, however this can greatly have a impact on your tax situation.  

The problem with lost money orders is that the claim process to recover can take some time.

BTW, if your contract has language about recouping legal and collections costs, you may be able to recoup the cost of collections.Small Claims Court: Typically, this is a relatively easy DIY legal process.

I fully understand that my youth/inexperience places me at an initial disadvantage, at least in terms of attracting investors, and imbues a level of doubt to any claims remotely sensational.

The fire department came and turned the water off.We had just put new carpet in the first floor and new paint, so the next day or so had a guy come out and replaced the new carpet again and another guy replaced the burst pipe and put in a dry wall and paint the bathroom since that is where the pipe burst from.I wanted to file a claim with my insurance company but the agent told me not to file a claim with the insurance company since then the insurance company will know about it and the buyer agent can find that out and it would detract from the value of the house.Almost 4 months had gone by and I wasn't happy with him since he never contacted me and keep in the loop with what is going on other than a website he gave me a link to and a password to check what is going on which he hardly updated.