This lacks the recent law changes regarding reimbursement for legal fees to the tenant.  

If they come back and say I can't, I thought about pursuing legal action if it's possible. 

We have zero debt and moderately high income.

Any debt instrument such as a mortgage must be non-recourse, meaning no personal guarantee from you.There are a handful of banks that do this kind of lending.  

You need to check your locality for the legality of bandit signs.  

You cannot legally have a contract unless you put up some cash deposit.

Wholesaling has tons of pros but also a few cons, so I am not sure I want to start in that area just yet, until I get the legal part situated.

@Truong Tran,You cannot sell anything you do not legally own.Even on a sub-lease, you cannot offer a sub-lessor any greater interest in the property than you currently have. 

I'm putting "raised rates" in quotes because the Fed only sets one rate, the overnight lender-of-last-resort rate for SHORT term inter-bank debt.

Like Emily said, a number of shocking facts (or not so shocking to many landlords) have come out in the press recently on how few Americans can come up with a thousand or even four hundred dollar in an emergency....A FINRA study on The Financial Fragility of Renters was just one (with lots of stats).So no downpayment is a big one, as is credit score, and even with those who have resources, they  may want the flexibility to move or freedom from extra work or costs of maintaining and repairing the home.Even items like student loan debt or fear about the economy hold others back (still some out there who feel the sting of the housing bust).