For example, If a home was worth $100,000 and their levy code was 1% to generate $1,000 in revenue; it appeared they would assess it for $90,000 and raise their levy code to 1.1111% they would still receive $999.90 in taxes but have a lot fewer phone calls and challenges to their assessments.A few suggestions:  pull comps from January 2021; adjust for condition (if your tenant trashed the place or let the yard go, needs TLC, etc. point that out); adjust for location (is your home on the non-view side of the street or backing to the busy street or under the power lines; etc. 

Agreed, my first impression was this shouldn't be possible and could be dangerous.

So whichever avenue has fewer costs and less risk, use that form of payment and leverage it to purchase a property that will pay for all that debt you used and more!

As long as you have a good property manager and it's not you interacting with the tenants, what do you care if it's a dangerous neighborhood?

I know people do this, but I think its dangerous. 

@Wayne Brooks in addition the guru tactic of changing vesting to trust is an alienation of title as well.but its the law of averages.. most notes wont get called no matter what.. but this scheme is just so dangerous for sellers.. most have no clue as to what will bite them down the line.they gave up title.loan does not get paid.credit trashed there are those that did this as preditors ( not insinuating the OP is doing this just a commentary) they get in title rip the rents know the state they are doing this in has a very long foreclosure process years in some instances.. and seller is screwed fico wise and the guy in title just keeps ripping rent..

I refinanced with a local bank but found no fewer hurdles to jump through.  

Sell the property, use the money to buy a property on flat ground and save yourself the grief from having your guests use any type of dangerous equipment.

For this exception to be applicable, the landlord cannot own more than three single-family homes.Types of housing that don’t have to abide by the FHA include: -The building has four units or fewer, and the landlord occupies one of the units.

The challenge with FHA 3-4 unit purchases is the self-sufficiency test, so it's not quite as simple as you may think to buy one just because the program is available.Keep in mind dealing with a bank or credit union could leave you with fewer loan options as they may not offer all types of mortgages, or have overlays above and beyond the base guidelines set by Fannie/Freddie/FHA, etc.Hope that helps.