You read about how contractors who bid out a job like this, mark it up 50% can potentially still show a loss at the end of the year and barely break even.

My mother is on a fixed income and can barely cover her living expenses and has a number of serious health conditions. 

The crazy thing is that the house is barely worth $100k even if it was in great shape.

I engage with them the bare legal minimum. 

On each property we spend bare minimum 10 thousand dollars regardless where they are located Overall we have great Tenants for the quality and high maintenance we provide .

Initially the city demanded it be torn down to the bare walls.Problem was it's in a 2 family zone, and the extra unit violated zoning.

I use them as tests to see what the market (and sellers) will bare.  

<Especially if it is load baring!

With RTP around 0.5%, the rental property barely cashflows.

This would probably give them the time to adjust to the increases and make living choices that will help them make the transition easier.If it barely works the way the rents are now, you could use the extra cash flow to make improvements to each unit over time.