If you can afford to carry them and have no plans to do anything with the money, then keep them and pay down the mortgage, just make sure you have the money and a safety net to carry them.   

Be polite and cordial, but only fix safety and health items.

I think it terms of safety it's somewhere between a bank and something like Prosper or other P2P lenders. 

My plan would be to ultimately keep about a $10k safety net.

This is truly a "discomfort" issue and not related to safety or habitability.I think there's an opportunity to renegotiate the monthly rent in exchange for making the upgrades that she wants, and it's an upgrade that I wanted to do anyway. 

A part of it is tax, the other piece is public safety, too few high quality educational options, and high rent. 

Proverbs 11: 14 says, "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." 

Invest it in an account that yields the best returns, but also the highest levels of "safety".

San Marco is even more expensive.Murray Hill and Springfield are cheaper options, but safety is an issue for some.I’d recommend you check the below zip codes for possible options.32204 (Riverside in this one)32206 (Springfield in this one)32207 (San Marco in this one)32205 (Murray Hill in this one)322463220832210Some of these have very questionable areas, so you’ll have to perform a detailed search to find what you’re looking for.

It's a bit of a safety net at least.Any ideas, experience, suggestions?