It's nice to hear from an investor who is doing the same thing in the same market. 

I’ve looked into blanket loans before, but I’m curious about how they’re shaping up in today’s market.

Just as bad as the posts you see from time to time of the grandchild wanting to work out creative financing to buy their grandparents house below fair market value.  

As well - for redemption periods please see the following post.Alabama Tax Sale Redemption Rights, Denise Evans post.For those interested in this, please see this post from the market place.

Is this the only market you are looking at to invest in or are you open to out of state investing as well?

The stock market is up something like 80% of the days long term.

You could charge them market rent, but it may not match your Airbnb earnings.

In Cleveland you can find below market rental ready duplexes that require minor repairs (keep in mind that discounted properties come with their own challenges).

Years ago I bought houses for $25k in my market.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.