best bet is to hire a full season lawn / snow service that can do your property year round..Seasonal rates for each  snow and for lawn care.. get some bids.. your going to find the good companies are probably already booked for snow and won't touch you unless you contract with them also for lawn care.. so make sure and mention that when you call.. have them do the fall clean up.. and get started right away.. 

I was being told that in order for the VA to fund the duplex, the individual taking out the loan has to qualify for the full amount of the property price themselves.

When you make an offer to buy, just plan on a full gut remodel.If these are regular honeybees, they generally don't attack unless threatened.  

Maybe one option 0% down, but a higher interest rate for them and you pay them back with monthly installments, one option with 10% down with a slightly lower rate and pay them back in monthly installments, and one option with the highest rate but no monthly installments...meaning they would get their money in full when you sell.  

I know the market and needs of out of state investors very well, since I work for one full time.

Tenant 2 states she also wants to stay but can not afford the full rent and refuses to leave (hearing this from tenant 1).

The covert lot I ran in Raleigh (up to 22 spaces, but we were never close to full) for our members as a 'revenue enhancer' was unattended, automated, easy to manage (handled a few calls a semester), and not a burden.

I won't say who this person is but I will drop this hint: if you enter his/her full name into google followed by Baton Rouge, click on the first link and read the first review.

That said, the link here says: full payment for the purchase is required immediately after the sale.

I don't personally have my license (conflict of interest at my company/dept); however, I used to work in a office full of agents (100+).