Things to never have in a rental...ceiling fans, garbage disposals, storm/screen doors, and those obnoxious pull out sprayers on kitchen sinks. 

A family of 2 with rent of $1200 and $3600 is income is in a totally different world than a family with a voucher and $1200/mo in disposable income.

Old timers planted them there to dry up the wet area created by the cesspool.A cesspool was at one time a dry well lined with loose-fitting brick or stone, used for the disposal of sewage.

Also say in the lease that all cigarettes/cigars/etc must be disposed of in a proper manner (not just throwing butts on the ground).

Place a basket of disposable shoe covers at the front door and ask people to use them to protect the flooring.

With 200 - 250k at your disposal you could easily find a SFH house in South Orange County in the 600-700k range.  

We provide fridge, stove, built-in DW & built-in MW as well as hook-ups for W/D but no W/D no garbage disposal.

No balconies, no grass, not enough off-street parking (though there was enough parking with street parking, as our residents could get resident stickers), no dishwashers, no disposals, no on-site laundry. 

I've been driving it now for 2yrs, have only needed to pay for consumables, oil, gas, and 2 new tires.Another great thing about the Econoline Vans, they are built on the Ford truck chassis, so that means a reliable chassis, drivetrain, and parts are readily available all over North America.Since you are from Indy you have all 4 seasons of weather, with a van you can load up your stack of drywall, plywood, lumber, etc and not worry about it getting rained on/snowed on/ etc while in transport.And if you don't need to be hauling things on a daily basis, then just pick up a cheap 'burner'/disposable Honda.

Next, while it's a good idea to have reserves and I don't know the rest of your financial situation (ie how much disposable income you have left over each month), you said without the car payment you would be able to save up quickly.What if you kept the car, bought the property with the reserves in the bank with very little out of pocket (shouldn't be too hard with 100% financing and credits for closing costs), then paid off the car loan with your cash, and then quickly replenish your reserves?