Our prices aren't so high that it's hard to get a deal without buying at a deep discount, and the rental rates are good.

@Christopher Deitz I think I see why lease options aren't working.

You'll also get some appreciation if you buy right because rents in those areas are reasonably high and some owners aren't charging what the market will bear.

Finance is not real estate that most take lightly, while underwriting guidelines exist now for seller financing there is also a side that RMLOs probably aren't aware of, that is looking into the future as to the probability of a borrower performing  as  expected, obtaining other financing, secondary market underwriting is easy, predicting the future takes more skill and experience.Good luck :) 

We aren't going to be able to give you enough information for you to make a decision, there are too many variables.

As far as I know all properties are rent controlled regardless of the quantity.

Ideally you'll get your FICO, since that's what most banks use, but some of the "Fako" scores out there, such as those from Credit Karma and Quizzle aren't terrible. 

The rules for Knoxville and the rules for there aren't interchangeable.

Requests aren't vettted enough prior to sending out expensive tradesmen.  

If you have a decent place and aren't super-aggressive with rent increases or neglecting tenant requests they are happy to stay.