If you live close enough to pick the check up, I'd also strongly state that as my preference.And to play devil's advocate. 

I think I do have to give this some thought though as to whether I will purposefully continue to do so.  

Don't buy so much house/duplex that you can't have a life and continue to save money. 

Talking to tenants like this is usually a waste of time since they will only try to play the landlord and stall the process.

I'd encourage you to find an agent that understands real estate investing and have them set you up on searches with the keywords "motivated" "seller carry" "lease option purchase"If you are playing at the auction then you are swimming with sharks - even the savviest of investor would be outmatched for the guy's doing it day in and day out in that arena.

Assuming the higher end of the resale, that would give a nice chunk of money to keep doing deals - if you can continue to find deals in your area, flip or rent, you will do better from a COC return.

What plans do you have to continue to save or generate investment capital?

Assuming there are no looming big ticket items that I am aware of, would you/should I continue to save for reserves, or just maintain that reserve and replenish as expenses arise?

Continuing to pray for Florida, hopefully the recovery is as smooth as possible

I'm curious, what role would you play in this potential deal?