The part is 18 lots with 4 homes currently on a lease to own. 4 more homes are in various states of disrepair and are vacant but look like they can be rehabbed anywhere from $2k - $2500 each.

Mo to mo lease.  

We've encountered non responsive leasing agents before.

You just need to get the tenants to agree to it in the lease and you simply bill the tenants back by means described in the lease...done!

From what I have read, wholesaling and lease options tend to require little money to start, but I also know that the lease option is a fairly advanced method.

I suppose I could lease-option the property for a shorter period, lets say 3-5 years, but I would still want to take over the mortgage, so that I can benefit from the rapid pay=down of the balance.Thanks in advance for further thoughts.Bill

Sounds somewhat shady to me, sorry.As a broker, you should know about property transfers, lease purchase, assumable mortgages, etc. 

My broker also has "phone duty", where you could potentially grab a leasing tenant (in hopes that they'll eventually be a buyer). 

You can ask questions like, "I was calling to see if you had any open rentals in _________ area for lease?"

Then I would fix & flip the property.So, There really are only two options I can think of. 1) Find an "off market" property that you can take "Subject To, on a "Wrap", or a "Land Contract" or a "Lease Option and proceed with either Fix & Flip or Buy & Hold or sell to a Tenant Buyer (my favorite).2) Find someone on the mainland that you can Joint Venture with in a market your finances can afford.Either way, you have to start somewhere.