You could do a lease option and still collect rent without having the responsibility of taking care of it. so maintenance costs you 0

Be careful who you partner up with.

It's essential for buyers to carefully evaluate their individual circumstances, conduct thorough research, and weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether a HUD property is the right investment for them.

We watch the local markets carefully and are increasing at least $50/month for renewing SFH this year.

Please be very careful if you are risking your dad’s home on flips. 

And while you may still need a CPA for tax prep and maybe advice it is a lot easier to have those discussions when you already have all the info at yours(and their) finger tips so that you can now have really meaningful conversations about strategies, tax planning, etc. 4) it’s usually a lot cheaper (did I mention that) to have a bookkeeper for the mundane stuff and you can spend the $$ on the CPA where their time is much more expensive and you now need less of it.

Since they are a tenant/buyer, they may take better care of the home, since they feel an ownership interest in, you can agree that they take care of most of the maintenance issues, and you can agree to sell at the future market value at the end of the option period and not below a specified #.

Does this go with the territory or should I tell my renters to pound sand for anything beyond health/safety?

Read the previous lease to make sure that you follow it for access and communications.In Virginia you can enter after 24 hours notice but I would be VERY careful about doing that if they are not communicating.

Will they care because those homes were collateral?