If not, I'm guessing it would be treated as a traditional rental loan, either conventional or DSCR, using market rents rather than the rent in the lease agreement.

We actually get a ton of inquiries for our rentals from people living there because they'd had enough after four months of their twelve month lease.

Is it overkill as I would not be dealing with leases, work orders, etc?

Here's the issue...in most states, if the tenants have a lease, the new owner will be obligated to honor the lease - as is - until end of lease. 

You can get started with rent to own/lease option or another creative strategy like buying subject to. 

It's difficult to see how a tenant will be after screened and signing a lease.

How are you managing your properties in that area given that property management company seem to be extremely unreliable and seem to go under quite frequently 

We work with lots of clients from both coasts, but especially from CA, helping them find investment properties with residents in place under 2 year leases from day 1!

This includes preparing the property for renters, pricing it right, marketing, application screening, collecting rent, dealing with unpaid rent and other lease violations, security deposit disposition, inspections, and so much more.

One way we fight this is with photo verification pre-lease signing and not approving renters who don't view the place in person, our credit underwriting software also flags apps that have a high likelihood of fraud.