Alternatives?  

Though the rent amount is in line with the area, your tenant pool is more limited, and there's a lot more space to maintain and get damaged, so your returns likely won't be so great.If you find that it's difficult to rent, I thought @Corby Goade's idea of converting it to a duplex is a good one if the building and zoning will permit it; alternately, you could knock out a wall to combine a couple of bedrooms to make it a 5/3 or even a 4/3 (or use some creative marketing - it's 5BR + office/den/whatever) to help make it sound more in line with norms.Hopefully you'll find a family that will want to rent it for years and years - it'll no doubt get torn up, but we all run that risk with our properties.  

If you wish to learn about some alternatives you likely haven't heard about before, please give me a call.Many thanks- Leslie

Two weeks later the landlord gets a call his 2005 ford is involved in a hit and run ,  the landlord tells the cop that that truck is in the driveway with the motor out ( 6.0 diesel ) .

So looking for alternative time investment opportunities, REI was the obvious choice.

Yes we had a tree issue...a large pine tree fell on my BF truck.

Alternatively, I was considering doing number 1 & 2, and a Lease-Option so that he could buy back the house in 5 years, but since the mortgage would still be in his name with the Sub2 portion, he would likely be unable to get another mortgage to buy back the house.

We are, of course, always on the lookout for deals across many different channels, however our deal-seeking efforts this week are concentrated on reaching out to property owners found through county offices, title companies, and research done out of our truck windows! 

Check out The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down by Brandon Turner.It does a great job of outlining stuff like owner-financing, portfolio loans, and private money as an alternative to conventional mortgages. 

Chances are your new employer's 401k won't allow you to invest in alternative investments.