I will provide them a recent bank statement showing a balance greater than $300,000 and offer to pay a year of HOA fees in advance, and I will offer to have a third party investigator do a background check on me to prove that I do not have a criminal record, given that I am paying cash there is no logical legal reason why they should refuse my application, but this application process may have little to with the law.

As above, I didn't take advantage of the older lady and raise her rent to $600, because she is unlikely to move, I simply provided a "fair" price for both parties.

Members can not pull reports for third parties

This allows me to have a deed of trust recorded if I need to use third party funds. 

If the IRA is to be a direct partner in the project, a traditional bank will want all parties and/or members to sign personally.

You will still want someone to draft the note so that it protects all parties.  

Part of these details are outlined in this post and by Ben, the other part is that different price points will require the rule to be adjusted as one deal meeting the 1.5% rule may have the exact same cash flow as another meeting the 2% rule and that may be due to a number of different factors.Lastly, there has been some argument and discussion on classing properties.

Also after I get my contract filled out by both parties (seller and myself) when is it legally binding?

Looking at a foreclosure auction today in FLORIDA in which the judgment was 30k, same as plaintiff max bid, and it went to a third party bidder for 85k. 

In case it impacts the analysis, one of the listing agents is using a third-party company to assist with all the paperwork and negotiation involved in the short sale.