With the given of pension so long as you work, most of the working class do not aspire or create businesses here.

I have my own properties throughout the area, and have worked with many contractors, PMs, lenders, insurers and attorneys that I can recommend.

I'm only at 3 rentals and just 1 tenant can make or break you trying to be a PM while also working a w-2, I've already come close. 

Perhaps we "buy" the house from them for the $328K balance to satisfy the lender and don't need a large down payment and then have a separate contract with them to pay $x per month until we've paid the full $172K amount.

It's also not plausible because you will end up arguing about what constitutes time worked which is why the DOJ narrative that this should be done is so stupid.

Enough immediate cashflow to balance out the mortgage, taxes and insurance.

Who's doing the work?

Assuming property taxes + insurance added don't go above $1,100 total, you could maybe make this work. 

I wish I had another work around for you, but I actually stopped using my business CC all together just to avoid the PITA "hacks" they offered as solutions. 

I know it's a balance of reality, values, and what makes one happy that guide our decisions.