If the rent is deposited into your account then you have accepted payment.I use apartments.com and zillow to handle payments - they allow you to block payments.This won't help you this time but in the future your lease should specify how they are allowed to pay rent, specify payment options that give you control over the payment.

If you're going to stay in Westchester, you'll have more options on the market this time around than when you first used the househack strategy.

You can also get a personal loan up to $50K which typically is to pay off credit cards debts, do renovations etc, but it can also be used as a down payment.

Are there more affordable options that are also good?

Hey Madina,DSCR is a great option, especially if you want to purchase the property under an LLC.

The lot is 3x the size of the other option and the home has very high potential for value add.

The option period is for you to negotiate items that are safety issues.

@Francis Faucher most of our Canadian clients set up an LLC, which I beleive offers better tax options than a C-Corp.

Within real estate:  private lending, syndications, Delaware Statutory Trust (DST), Opportunity Zone (OZ) funds, As mentioned, there are public market options such as REITs and their preferred shares and/or bonds. 

The will typically estimate the job and mark up all the products and services.