You could strike a balance by cashing-out some of the equity (rather than the full 80%) and keep the mortgage to where you could cash flow a reasonable amount (but not as much as it is now).

I second Jordan says, $200 is barely enough cash flow to cover anything, disaster strikes, appliance failure and your now in negative cash flow territory.  

Yes, 99% chance this is a bad idea...One thing you said strike me as really odd is that everyone you know has family assistance.... then you are probably hanging around the wrong crowd.... everyone that I know do not have family assistance.... seriously....Plus someone that succeeds on his/her own have the tendency to resent people who would ask for help becasue that is not how they made their money , and so they don't believe in it...

Some even bring pay stubs, W2's with them, so I strike while the iron is hot. 

Would her children be able to strike the contract null and void, and retain the property for themselves?

I know there are complicated rules on insurance depending on the nature of the failure...if it's caused by lack of maintenance but if it's a lighting strike it may?  

You could also enter into a lease option which gives him the option to strike as well as you.  

I'd like to ready when opportunity strikes.

However there is risk in not striking when the market is hot, if things went south its possible that a significant chunk of my money would end up trapped in the properties.  

Any major conversations that strike up, or Pandora's boxes that get opened, let's separate those into a new thread so we can keep this one focused on the questions.Go!