My first question is what creative financing strategies have worked well for you?

I believe it is over priced (originally for sale by owner for $280k,later listed through agent at $360k), but I feel like the seller may be open to a creative financing option. 

As the saying goes, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”That being said, there are definitely creative ways to get into the game.

Quote from @David Cherkowsky: Hi all, I'm interested in thoughts on creative financing options for an Airbnb in Northern Virginia.

I am talking to someone on their commercial side, however the last communication I had with them when I asked where we were on attaining a quote was that the under writer was having trouble finding a market for the mobile homes due to the age.

The first clue lies (pun intended) in this fragment from your friend's creative writing sample: ...I wanted to "sell" the rental house to a new LLC...Anytime you have to put a critical word like sell in quotation marks, it means that you're not actually selling.

Even if you don't find someone able to chime in on that niche, you sound creative enough to make it a success.

Creative strategies like lease options allow investors to control properties without owning them upfront.

While there could be avenues to acquire real estate creatively with less cash operating  real estate properly is capital intensive. 

However, I'm short on cash (will be putting $20k of my personal money into this)  and I am exploring creative ways to source funds for the project.I’ve been quoted for a $100K HELOC on my primary residence with a 30/1m ARM at a 13.25% rate and APR, with an interest-only monthly payment of $1,016 and $3,825 in points.