So, knowing we want to sell the house and cash out equity for other things (maybe a different property closer to us, we'll see), not having the damages paid, late rent, and with only one month left on the lease, we see the writing on the wall.

Though you may be texting buddies, I think it would have been better and more professional to send a proper notice in writing.

A great thing about rentals in warmer locations is the tax write off abilities. 

WOW that's A LOT of writing to say, hey how do I get to 16k a month.  

These groups/syndicators put out blogs, appear on podcasts, write books about passive investing, many start "guru courses" and pay for marketing to find LPs.  

You are ignoring appreciation which you may get or not depending on when you sell, plus depreciation write off, and mortgage pay down-your tenant takes care of this.

How do I write that off at the end of the year, if i have no invoices? 

Landlord policy's have gone way up because most carriers are no longer writing landlord policy's in Texas because of the billions of pay out due to hail storms. https://www.restoremastersllc.com/hail-damage-statistics-in-...So, supply and demand of course push's up prices. 

My onboarding manager Hailey insisted on "chatting" whenever there was an issue because I am assuming they never wanted to put anything in writing.

If you keep in Dad's name, just make sure that he does 1031 exchange out of any potential sale in the future if you don't want to write large checks to Uncle Sam.