I have heard there are smaller lending groups where you can purchase a note of the loan for a private investor with fairly good return rates.

I'm looking into a few different options now: HELOC on other investment properties (though I'm finding rates are 11%-13%), a business loan on another business I own, and negotiating with vendors to take deferred payments. 

If they don't like it, you can find another tenant willing to pay market rate and pet fees.

This is EXACLTY what Clayton Morris did to his clients dumped them into low end properties and millions were lost.. this is something in my personal opinion that will never work and investors are going to sign on to these high interest rate private mortgages and find themselves in trouble. thing of it logically if you have the cheapest homes basically in the entire US what kind of renters are they going to attract..  

However, with all the zoning, interest rates, and rising prices, I was wondering if it is still a good place to invest for cash flow.

I would keep your peak season pricing the same and look at improving the rest of the year by decreasing pricing some until your occupancy rate ticks up a little.

Existing rents were well under market rates. 4. 

Compare rates, terms, and see if you can secure a more favorable situation.Get legal advice on the private loan contract and your rights as a borrower.

However I did some research myself on crime rates, and from 3 different sites, they all suggest that crime is rather high in that area:https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crimehttps://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-memphis-tn/https://www.memphisdailynews.com/CrimeReport.aspxChecking city-data.com, the average salary for that median household income is around 39k.Also, the property value is listed at 145k, which seems like it is on the lower end.

Personally I'm fascinated with Sub-to, especially if you can takeover a sub 4% rate.