I would be inclined to not trust her at all if she already had the dog and I would evict for breaking the lease, with no qualms whatsoever.

I'm inclined to start with all cash on my first purchase for two reasons: 1) minimize risk (if rehab takes longer than expected, or getting tenant takes longer than expected, I'm not paying the mortgage) 2) move quicker on a deal, without having to wait for financing The good news is you can still refi your cash purchase and pull all/most of the money out (if the deal is right), so you can then scale quicker if you're ready. 

I’m more inclined due to having a few relatives in Georgia and Florida.

Owners are less inclined to move, until they 'really' have to, with distressed property.... 

Although I do agree with the criteria you mentioned: matching risk tolerance, track record, investment philosophy, ethics and locationI know what some of my initial inclinations are in regards to these criteria one of my above replies mention them, however, I am trying to make sure I don't miss anything that would be outside of what my own biases make me lean towards.

I'm more inclined to cover that type of damage, and not put it on the tenant.Teach your roommates how to prevent toilets from overflowing.

That seems so jury-rigged I am inclined to believe some big campaign donor billionaire (or two) pulled a few string to get congress to put that law in place.

My inclination is to give them back most of their deposit (provided they leave the place in good shape), less some for time I had to put in to screen the tenants.  

I might be inclined to call the person agent you got code to lock box and make sure they have you confirmed that it was ok to get in. talk to them and try to find out why all this is going on?

I am inclined to think there is a dimension here that is not in plain view.