That's just my two cents... because you're essentially getting 2-4 doors for 3.5% down - which is great. 

The other suggestions are good, creative ways to”ultimately” receive the benefit of the $10k but none of them will allow me to immediately offset my repair costs, which is my goal.

Again, a rental agent will be helpful in knowing current prices, paying a half or full fee to get them to screen and place a tenant would have the additional benefit of having this conversation with them to gauge your market.Ultimately since you have some flexibility of schedule and funds I would say do your first live-in upgrade from existing funds and get the other units rented closer to full market rate.

My wife and I did the same thing and are still, 16 years later, reaping the benefits from that decision.  

I think I had a misunderstanding of the Ohio tax lien/tax deed process and was thinking that it was more like the process in Florida where the county essentially does most of the work for you and you don't have to go through the entire foreclosure process at all. 

Essentially, I would just take over the loan? 

if yes compare with your current lender see which route will benefit.

I have a set of essential equations to evaluate deals before entertaining further analysis. 

Being able to get the same rate for those three years presents a benefit to the potential buyer.

This is just one benefit.