Jobs are disappearing and self-sufficiency is a must.

Therefore, you have provided sufficient notice and the tenant should vacate at the end of the term.The holdover clause may be helpful but it's not necessary.

The tenants income is not sufficient to support the rent payment so I used the temporary housing agency as their income qualifier. 

I want to get started and use this as a token to go from 3 units to 12 units to 20+ so on and so forth

I think five days is more than sufficient but definitely put a hard date in the demand letter.

just symptomatic of a recovered market.. what you perceive a deal to be based on 5 to 7 years ago is just not what the market is willing to pay today..over the years we change our strategy every 5 to 7 years as well to go along with market cycles.right now there is more money in short term lending than most anything else if you have sufficient cash. 

I want sufficient insurance, but if something catastrophic were to happen I would construct under more modern building methods.

If you have sufficient equity, credit and cash flow, I can’t see why a Bank would be reluctant to lend as that is how they earn their income.  

The very first viewing was a hit- family of 3, more than sufficient salary, has been in their current rental apartment two and a half years and are ready for a little more space, reliable employment.

The first lesson that we all can learn from your experience is the need for sufficient insurance protection on our investements.As to your question, my suggestion would be to use your cash to acquire multiple properties.