One piece of advice I took from Brandon Turner is do one thing each day to move the needle forward. 

I've got a lot of problems with the Mayor, but this, I feel was a great move.

.- The townhouse you're moving into is currently a rental, but you plan to live there two years for the 121 exclusion.

In fact, for tax sales in PA, the parcel number check is usually best performed first, to see what mortgages can be found (if any); seeing a big mortgage means it's best to move on to the next property on the list.And on a side note, IRS liens can be wiped out at foreclosure of any kind, provided the IRS lien is in a junior position and provided that proper notice is served upon the IRS. 

Forward to 2023, the tenant is unfortunately moving out.  

Selling and move on.  

I’d love to hear about the crime rates or any other issues (which we cannot guess from the online stats), and how easy or hard it is to find reliable tenants and property management companies.

I'm currently moving into the commercial world of real estate.

If they Accept, you move to Step 2. 

One other advantage is that many of the builders that I have worked with are able to incentivise the sale with interest rate buydowns that make the deal work.Best of luck moving forward.