Hes renting out a house that he don't own

My bird dog found this nice 3/2 5 yr old home in a new subdivision, it's about an hour and a half from where I live. The owner is out of the area and the house sits empty. The owner is losing the house and is several payments behind. I wrote up the contract that I'm going to try to sell the house or do a short sale and I can make repairs and I can rent out the property till its sold or goes into foreclosure. This seller has just given up on this property and is happy to let me try to salvage this deal. Rent in the area goes for $900-$1100 Can u imagine collecting 1100 buks plus a deposit? What if it takes a year or more to do the short sale or the short sale is unsuccessful and it goes into foreclosure? The bird dog has agreed to clean up the place, do the yard work and cleaning and painting the inside to get it ready for renters. He has agreed to manage the property and make any repairs for a 50/50 split. I will do the contracts and the negotiations with the seller and with the bank. Am I insane to do this? To collect over $500 a month while I'm trying to save this house? What would you do?