My objective is buy and hold for the long haul.

Make sure that dad understands that this could be an illiquid investment for some time (I am sure your dad is smart, but you ALWAYS want to talk through Goals and Objectives BEFORE signing). 

If you have that existing wholesaler skill-set, it seems to me that you could apply it to vanilla or vanilla-ish (as a REI specialist agent) transactions, and net more at the end of the year by simply closing a crap ton more deals.So, wholesalers, educate me: What am I Missing? 

Your Veteran should contact his Veteran's Affairs Home Loan Counselors or the VA Specialist at his bank for more details on his particular situation.

I am an agent here in Tarpon Springs, however, I'm not a lease option specialist.

Looking at specialist to forward leads.  

@Jd Martin  I sometimes get a serious case of shinny object syndrome.. but in real estate that can be good thing.. find a market before someone else and exploit it on the run up... there is so much more to real estate than simply buying and renting a SFR or small multi..there is a big wide world out there of opportunites..

In your scenario, I'd make an objective decision based on the following:You need to convert your cash flow to a CoC (cash on cash) return rate, so you can compare that to your borrowing rate.  

Basically, this house wouldn't meet the 1% rule criteria if I were looking at it objectively, so I'm leaning toward selling.   

On Day 1 of their Option, have them work with 2 people - a Credit Repair Specialist and a Mortgage Broker.