Sounds like you grew up in the depression.Money is cheap right now and deals are plentiful.

In fact, I still was better off claiming standard deductions for myself and my wife this year despite having one house with a mortgage and having purchased a cheap rental as well this year.

Basically I would be getting the two lots (#3 & #4) for pretty cheap (as there is a rental cottage behind the restaurant on lot #3 to help pay the note off) and have a business to sell down the road.

It wasn't cheap to set it all up, but worth every single penney to me.

When my wife is in town, I watch a show on HGTV about doing some cheap stuff to a house to make it get a higher rent.

And a few months later, dang, a water pipe bursts and there is no such thing as a cheap plumber.

I do not know Memphis, but there are good, cheap markets in the US where you can find good owner finance buyers who maintain the house for you.

I set up a budget spreadsheet in Excel so we could see how much we could live on, then we stayed focused on being cheap.  

It is cheap and has worked fine for us.

On the other hand, if you can pick it up cheap enough and use it as a backyard, and someday miracles happen and politicians quit their idol worship, you would have it and be able to develop.