I would probably take a different course of action, inquiring with counsel on vacating the original agreement to maintain the installment contract.  

The HVAC company I called for an annual maintenance visit said there is nothing to maintain.

@Kris McfarlaneHow much have you been able to rent an upstairs and downstairs to maintain positive cash flow?

you can get a decent sized shower in there and still maintain an 11x11 bedroom. 

There are lots of reasons for this: no down payment; no job history; unstable employment situation (frequent transfers, for example); does not want to maintain/rehab a home; wants to live in a nicer area than buying would allow; ETC.We have some older women who could afford to buy, but like being able to just call us if something goes wrong rather than hunt down their own repairman and pay the bill out of their pocket.

There are also very large transaction costs on both sides of the purchase (explicitly or implicitly) and large organizations with political ties to maintain the cartel for real estate commissions.  

I've submitted an inquiry twice and both times the response came that it's tenant's responsibility to maintain the yard and thus trim all trees on the property.I would never think to try putting trimming big trees on my tenants for a number of common sense reasons, but this landlord is of a different opinion.

My mother-in-law is now having to take care of everything (mowing in Texas heat, etc) so it would be nice if the solution would downsize their living space (already pretty small at about 1400 square feet) as well as removed the need to maintain the lawn, etc. 

@Dylan Wright  also you need to check with teh park owner and make sure you could indeed rent it out.. the play is to own the MHP  not the mobiles  :)  MHP are a pain to keep maintained as parts are not right off the shelf in many cases

Upgrades may or may not have been done over the years, but have long passed, and upkeep is kept at a minimum.You might encounter aluminum electrical wiring, galvanized steel plumbing, led paint and even asbestos because of the age of the property.Because rents are substantially lower the income demographics of the residents may be towards the lower end too.D ClassNow we are talking C Class properties where the owners for various reasons have not maintained the property.