A part of me is saying to vacate the premises so I can renovate and then get max rents in this market but another part of me is saying explore these prospects and still be able to increase rents a bit without carrying any reno cost. 

I posted a letter on each neighbors door to set the expectation and haven’t had any issues since.  

Could you not have your CPA provide a letter stating that you are accredited in order to satisfy the requirement?

The county then confirmed the legal use in a letter.

So the take away is a personal letter to attach to the offer with the breakdown and financial explanation.

If the title company provides a notarized letter confirming that the recording is in queue with the City, that may resolve the registration issue.

We have a similarly crazy market here and there are some MLS homes that say the seller will carry.

My carrying cost on it is low and since I was in the midst of moving I was good with the wait.

Found a few that charged an arm and leg upfront (5.0% origination fee on commitment and in some cases collecting carry before full principal is repaid along with a hurdle in the payment waterfall).

We’ve all done direct mail and yellow letters and they work.