Gaining a risk-free property, with a long-term resident there to pay down your fees, etc, with a property management company in place to hold your hand along the way and making sure your property is kept up with. 

However, this could be offset by hiring a property management company.

I'm located north of Houston, Owned a Real Estate Mortgage company years ago.....

I like to think I have done ok. for me finding properties is sales - managing real estate and growing your company requires problem solving. 

Most turn key companies do have a West coast based marketing company sell their props.

Typically, if you have a mortgage, the mortgage company will collect taxes and insurance when you pay,  so there is not really any budgeting required for this.

Do they use a servicing company to make the payments directly to the , or do they make payments directly to the seller and hope they pass them on to the lender?

Where these numbers are found, there is a very high rate of rent actually being paid.We have over a dozen Fortune 500 companies just in Metro Detroit with huge Healthcare, Auto, and mortgage industry National footprints.

The substitute of collateral was more of a scenario where you sold for $155K, and instead of paying off the $88K loan in your scenario, those funds stayed at the title company and were used on a cash purchase happening nearby in date. 

You might try corporate housing by owner, or try getting in contact with some insurance companies for replacement housing, or traveling work-crews, etc.