It does not give you the protection of a properly formed LLC, but it does provide a bit of anonymity and can spell out the division of income to the beneficiaries in the trust docs.There should be no transfer tax involved with the trust, and it will not trigger any due-on-sale clause thanks to Garn-St Germain.BTW, if you do use a trust, only record the Deed into Trust, but NOT the entire trust declaration. 

Many times that looks to be a HUGE risk to try and net and extra $300-$500 PER MONTH against potential for bankruptcy.

If we did a deal using the numbers provided above we could cashflow around that $500 per month. 

Maybe this guy had other options, perhaps such as listing that might have benefitted him with extra cash/equity.

Thanks for any guidance that can be provided.

Because they're often taking a travel position just for the money, they tend to pick up extra shifts whenever they can so they work a LOT.

Bottom line… I’d be willing to come in a few thousand dollars more on my offer if it means there’s future potential to earn that much extra in rent each month, and I’m not sure what to do.

The city posts the licenses to their portal immediately after the inspection, lead cert, and payment are all provided (again, through the portal).

While realtors provide guidance, the final decision and its implications rest on your shoulders.If you have trusted advisors or industry experts, now is a good time to seek their opinions.

The in home test kit reliability is questionable unless they can provide peer reviewed test validation data.