I am purchasing and renovating a house 1 mile from a Mayo Clinic with the intention of making it a STR/MTR. 

When was the last time the septic was pumped, and were there any issues?

We're in it for the long haul and hope to build generational wealth and financial freedom for our family through real estate. 

@John Underwood - We just closed two second home purchase transactions within last 30 days with 10% down.  

Honesty and transparency is simply a profitable, long term strategy to build sustainable source of income and not end up with huge fines or, worst of all, in jail. 

It would fix your cash flow problem, but that comes with the furnishing expenses and a little more work than long term rent. 

We rented a house located on a pond in the Catskills for the last week in July.  

For newly constructed, purchased or renovated properties and also retroactive generally over the last 10 years, building components are properly classified into individual units of property and accurate recovery periods for computing depreciation deductions.

You can qualify for material participation for short term and long term properties.

I'd go through with the court date to get permission to remove his belongings and get it in writing how long you have to store them.