I am the one still alive, and do not want to continue to be solely responsible for taxes and upkeep while heirs are located and hopefully property can be sold.

My question to you is which trajectory do we take to secure our next home/rental property?

Excellent locations and purchased at about 50% of ARV.

If the tenant does not have the opportunity to defend themselves because you did not provide notification, the case will be thrown out.Check with a Skip Tracing service to see if you can locate them.

This higher return reflects the increased risk and responsibility on the buyer to secure a large sum for the balloon payment or refinance the loan within 5 years.

The rental company doesn't need to pay the security deposit back to the tenant because it's "insurance." 

@Jonathan GreeneI'd add #3 - which of those locations are closest?

You could charge their security deposit, but it likely wipes it out leaving you with no security at all.

Need to be well located and be amenity rich - I assume this to be true in quite a few markets.

The property looks like a decent location and is isolated from neighbors.