I have 1 house with oil , but the tenant drives an oil truck , so there is no problem .  

Get that education about alternative ways to finance, then use that information to make deals that work for the seller and you!

@Jaysen Medhurst thank you for your advice, any suggestions for alternative financing options

It would get you info on any future dumping trucks. ,, credit card fraud is a place where you might report them as the suspected fraudsters.

Would it make more sense to: Purposely forgo legal tax write offs to show higher income and then more easily qualify for conventional financing, at lower rates and better terms ORKeep taxes as low as legally possible and seek alternative funding via private or hard money, typically at much higher rates ORIs there a 3rd alternative I'm not thinking about... like credit unionsWould greatly appreciate to get your perspective on this.  

I did it on my personal house, it's a couple hundred bucks for soil delivered by truck (yards of soil, not a bag from menards) and some gutter extensions if it's really wet.  

With home ownership out of reach for the middle class in Los Angeles and rental costs skyrocketing, I think people would be interested in alternative solutions.The community I was thinking about involves a combination of manufactured homes and mobile homes (tiny homes and RVs). 

This implies you cannot simply find an RE on the MLS that will have positive cash flow.So look at alternatives.

One alternative to that would be to offer "Cash for Keys" where you offer an incentive for the tenant to move out before the term ends. 

Alternatively, can you make an offer while waiting to get approved?