You could do a JV and put a mechanics lien to protect your interest.

What really matters is what is under the hood and the mechanics.

Maybe a mechanics special multifamily in the Valley.  

The siding has some serious issues and some of the mechanicals are at the end of their lives.

I'm a Property Manager and the knowledge of housing and mechanical things is really helpful in managing vendors and issues that arise.When your experience is a little larger and your pockets deeper you can dive into development.

you need to compare apples to apples.. unless your looking at turn key inventory and then homes on the MLS  ( not Zillow or truila)  that is what you need to look at.most turn key homes by reputable companies will be extensively rehabbed .. were MLS homes from a homeowner that has lived there 20 years may have 20 year old mechanicals roof etc..

Granted, I didn't do TONS of homework on it but from what I saw, the mechanics of how it worked for funding REIs appeared to be pretty much like I've always understood that it worked for anything else. 

I always ask if they are willing to sign a mechanics lien and make sure they "never get ahead" of me. 

it's hard to hedge against a specfic industy in momentum, especially when you don't know what the potential mechanism for failure will be  to short against.

Going forward if the situation arises again(hope not), I would explicitly state that the window units draw more energy and the tenants are responsible for any increases.I don't know what type of AC unit you have, but when you say it's "running rough"...rough as in mechanically or it's just not cooling after the repair?