Tenant had bad credit which he explained (540-570); I wanted to rent the apt for the winter so I wrote a 6 month lease and explained we could extend if all goes well (lease dates Dec 1 - Jun 1).

My credit is a 745 on credit karma.

If there is a value add play then it can be possible but another option may be upping your purchase price a bit and asking for a larger seller credit to offset cash needed to close. 

I am a 32 year old male, great W2 job(130k annually, firefighter/paramedic), I have perfect credit, own my primary residence and have plenty of money in the bank.

*credit score around 830*dti ratio of right around 50% (even with my meager income and not counting any income from my wife).

I have applied with Chase and a local credit union and have been rejected for lack of credit history.

On a side note, I am a W-2 employee and have a 740 credit score. 

Hi @Patrick M.A tenant should get credit for the payment when they initiate it, not when it clears. 

If the answer is that you have no money or credit, then you should walk away from the deal and find something else.

The host purposed the idea of using a HELOC to pay off your high interest credit card (17%).