I can't seem to come up with a workable plan.

In this case, it's about coming up with a workable solution that will allow you to keep your asset. 

this is not something that is going to be workable.. you cannot scout properties very easy unless you just looking in the worst neighborhoods.. most will get redeemed.. not only that the sale goes very fast and its almost impossible to bid on the one's you want.. you may want to just go to a sale first see how it flows then see if its something you want to do.hard for me to fathom not ever leaving the state.. but I guess there are a lot of home bodies as well as guys like me that do nothing but travel.

Know your parameters and convey that to them, so they don't waste time bringing you stuff that's not workable.

It's pretty competitive out there right now but workable deals can still be found.  

Surprisingly you can give up four out of five of these and still have a workable deal, you just need to know how to put it together.

However I looked at these just like any other deal there had to be adequate equity.you need the equity to pay selling cost if your rent back fails on you.. ( and 90% do in 6 months)and then you need equity to pay for fix up costs .. houses always need significant work to be able to retail them... or rent them.so to buy sub too with little to no real equity is not a plan that is workable in reality. 

This will save you some money in that you are basically acting as the general contractor and subbing out the work.First recommendation on a job like this is to secure the outside to get a workable shell in place.  

I hope you find a workable solution for your retirement funds.

You are simply not finding workable deals.