@Bradley Buxton makes a very good point to make sure to do your due diligence as you won't be an owner occupant like your in-laws.Last bit of advice: Because this is a friendly deal, you want to take your time to make sure you structure it in a way that maximizes tax and cashflow benefits for both parties. 

The big pro that sticks out to me in Birmingham is the tax rate. 

If you sell it, you get $250k single / $500k married exemptions from capital gains.Speak with a tax professional about how much you'll save in taxes by doing this. 

Property taxes creep up, exterior repairs , and a brand new HVAC last year wiped out $11k of reserves.

The problem is that we need to be careful with the word "passive" because it has a very specific meaning in the tax law, and it is not intuitive.For example, losses from rental properties are usually passive but not always, there are some exceptions.

(Loan paydown, tax savings, etc etc..).

Could VRBO users from Michigan provide some clarity about the topic of sales tax/lodging tax collection and payment to the state.

There are tons of other metrics to consider such as rental rate, job demand, growth, path of progress, taxes, schools, crime, and on and on.

For example, in my state PA there is an inheritance tax and many TAX auction properties originate from people passing away and the heir(s) not taking control over the estate and paying those property taxes.

I did a poll of 700+ people who invested in real estate and less than 2% would want it to be tokenized.