Translate the soft skills the military has taught or shown you into being able to create and manage another Command to run your future investmentsGood luck

They will be worried that they will be dislodged and could be feeling defensive and ready for a fight if they think you are going to come in and kick them out.In terms of the lease - normally you would be deciding about whether to continue the current tenants before offering as this will probably be specified in the contract you have signed - it is in FL where I operate so I would check to see if you are already committed to the tenants in the standard contract - there's a clause about transferring current tenant leases normally.Normally the lease they have signed will transfer directly to you as the new owner - you need to check with your Realtor about your state's law to know for sure what your rights are but in FL you can if you choose transfer leases at closing - or specify that you wish to alter the lease upon title transfer so that may be something you need to resolve swiftly...I hope this helps in some way and again really well done!

Land just outside of town is available and we think would attract families who need housing for several years or more.There is a lot of room for alterations to this idea, and we are total newbies to all of this, so the major question is simply about the viability of such a plan.

(I actually know of people who are both buying and selling at the moment and taking these two contradictory positions, depending on which hat they are wearing at the moment.)The disconnect alone has forced cap rates up, though it's not translating in the data yet because the deals closing recently were in the pipeline before Covid hit, and everyone else is holding their deals off-market in the hopes of a quick rebound.If either (a) the economic openings do not restore the economy to where it was in January 2020 or (b) a second wave of Covid hits because of the openings, happen, then all bets are off.  

That, was a game changer for me and has altered my perspective moving forward.

Under my lease, tenants are precluded from making any alterations without my written consent. 

A pre-ordinance (built before July 8, 1957) residential building or building of mixed residential occupancy, not complying with the requirements in force and applicable to the building at the time of its conversion, may be altered so as to legalize one dwelling unit, in addition to the number of dwelling units originally authorized, providing that said unit was determined by the office of the zoning administrator or the zoning board of appeals to have existed prior to July 8, 1957, and provided such building complies with the other provisions of this chapter.

Depending on the areas you are looking, having less choices usually translates in to higher premiums.

This translates into above average appreciation. 

I think it just comes down to is she worth keeping around if good, and dealing with the inconsistencies of the lease issues, or push for the lease to be cleaned up and potentially lose her.Obviously, the ideal is you push just hard enough to get her on a new lease, and help her understand the rules regarding alterations, and keep her, but I read the original post that it seems like that isn't feasible.