However, beyond giving this group an opportunity to do the right thing (I responded with appreciation for the transparency, the only 2 questions we're allowed to legally ask, and a gentle reminder that we are a dog-friendly property and it's a minimal cost of $20 per night), is there a better way to handle this?

Aside from economic indicators and schools make sure you walk the area. 

I think you hit the nail on the head here, PM will make $ on the placement fee and in this case, they provided the work for the turn which wasn't minimal, so they made $ there as well. 

This balances maintaining your current property and expanding your investment portfolio, although it involves higher mortgage payments.Given your goal to minimize your ex’s financial benefit, selling your current home and purchasing a new house hack might be the most straightforward and financially advantageous route.

If your goal is to focus on minimal cost for this, that is when it might make more sense to do it as a purchase with a new mortgage. 

This is the exact problem I've been having with these higher rates and the market overall - cash flow too small to be a LTR (or just fix the property up good to minimize capital expenditures) and accept the small cash-flow. 

Hello this is ______ with we or I buy houses Seller says something which indicates that they want to sell a house.

The fact they are willing to pay $200 extra also indicates they have had a tough time renting other places, aka other landlords have told them no.I would lower the rent and find a good tenant before I did this, but that’s just me. 

It's short and nobody I know regrets minimalizing, exploring and living a life free of regret.

This is my first investment property so I feel more hesitant about going into rehab work than something fairly newer or even older but with minimal repairs/recently renovated.