Conscious decision, timing was important, price reflected generous buffer for known needed work.What I didn't realize is, the tenants are kind of irresponsible slobs, and rather than reporting things to me or applying a _proper_ fix, they'll do a hack fix (e.g. they tied a piece of cloth around a pinhole leak in a pipe, which resulted in expensive water damage years down the line).I've run into a such few cases, where repairs were needed due to long-term tenant negligence (when they rented from the previous owner, so basically before our lease), and I'd like to protect myself and hold them accountable for any future such things that come up.

They probably mean, you can't apply until it's under contract, and they won't look at it until it's under contract.  

The average means nothing because it doesn't apply to anything.Start getting OUT of the habit of using percentages to analyze anything in REI...percentages will lie to you, and they are useless ways to analyze/compare. 

Has anyone else applied rent-to-own strategy in Las Vegas?

What I had in mind was, before even applying for the heloc, to address their financial budget and hold them accountable for 6 months to see whether they can steward the lump some of money when it comes in.

At a minimum you can wait until a lease is over and apply for a zoning change then.

That said, you need to estimate true NOI as it sits today, apply a 10 cap for the rural location and thats roughly what its worth.

I assume I need to apply for a permit but I'm not sure of the alterations that were made (what walls were originally in place or new wall that were built to convert it to single family).

The $10,000 limit is a lifetime limit and applies to student loan distributions to an individual from all QTPs.

Find out what the market cap is for properties like that one, and apply that to the NOI you calculated.