We've been managing our properties for 2 years now and been doing a lot of the work ourselves to save money, such as yard maintenance, cleaning, unit flips, etc.

Also, SFH is always a more desirable rental property, it comes with owning land and the renter gets some kind of a yard.

Last bid was $8400 to take out and dispose or could leave it in the yard for $1900. 

Market your properties on FB market and put a sign in the front yard. $40 application fee - runs credit and background checks on tenants.

To be fair, these are all houses with yards, I might feel different about a 10th floor walk up condo and a Great Dane.

My suggestion is if you don't go through the hoops to get a permit just keep the front of your house clean and don't do projects in your front yard or throw out large bulk items that are clear indicators of a rehab.Utilize Fort Worth's bulk trash pick up days and get rid of everything at once. 

We have yards signs that say "I support Vacation Rentals"  if you are on the beachside I can deliver to you and we need as many out as we can get before the 18th. 

Lots of visitors come to town for events there, so I think this location and expanded size will be an excellent draw.What would you do with this house and more importantly the yard to maximize its appeal and ADR?

We plan to rent out the basement on a medium-term basis - we are going to install a full kitchen down there, put a lockable door between upstairs and downstairs, fence off a private section of the yard, and there is already laundry down there, so it will essentially be an up-down duplex with a separate walkout basement entrance.

Thanks @Todd DexheimerI think that at the end of the day they will at least be able to salvage the initial investment,  also the returns of the past couple of years were not sustainable and even if its a total loss I am still way ahead.