Great location! 

@Islah Barney, If your mother was living in that house for 2 years out of the 5 year look back prior to sale, then she can sell and take the first $250K of profit tax free.If the gain is more than $250K then you could rent it for a few more months. 

'The property has been rented.

(But not for a “I’m going to live in it 50 weeks out of the year and rent it out two weeks”, IMHO, if that was your idea.  

Price to rent ration of 2%2.

Quote from @Rushi Shah: Hi everyone, my partner and I are renting right now and looking to start our landlord journey.

That was just one of my properties and I now have multiple in different vacation locations.  

With a house hack you buy a single family and rent out rooms to roommates to make money OR a small mult-family (2-4 units) and rent out the other apartment(s).

If it sold for $120K in 2007  , and your rent is $2000 a month , the landlord is probably cash flowing rather well .   

What they are currently using the home for (renting by the room vs renting the entire house to one group) isn't your concern.