There are people still moving to TN, which will continue to push pricing up, and while most of the country has seen rents either flatten or go down, most of these markets have done pretty good.Problem is in the short term it may  cause an affordability problem, especially in the smaller markets that don't have enough building.

Now if I remodel the kitchen, bathrooms, doors, windows and some other stuff I could probably rent it out for $650-$700, increasing my cash flow, specially when I move out.

Generally, lender guidelines say that you have to move in within 60 days.

I initially paid out of pocket for most of the interior updates / rehab costs when the family moved in, but now it could use new roof shingles (which we've got estimates on) and some minor updates in the kitchen and garage.

There is no reason for them to just forgive anything, but it would potentially in their best interests to accept a chunk of money from the owner and possibly do a friendly foreclosure (hand them the keys per se).

What percentage of monthly mortgage payment needs to be covered to be a smart move? 

I plan on using the VA loan first, then within the 12-18 months move and acquire another property.

What would happen if I bought a house and moved in, rented the rooms out, then quit my job a few weeks later and used my self employment income to cover remaining mortgage payments and my bills?

I and hubs are new to investing so still trying to do our due diligence to know which area of RE we want to move in but I knew for sure tax liens/deeds were one thing I wanted to invest in.

We confirmed that the tenants had moved out and the place was left in decent shape.