Or do we just cut our losses and keep her deposit?

We can do some of the legwork ourselves to cut cost - we have flipped houses and built two new homes before but we had the misfortune of starting in 2005 and ending very abruptly in 2008. 

I’m not trying to cut costs, as we all know how important this can be.

Cutting your losses even if the 1:1 is a cheaper solution today is missing the forest for the trees. 

You can also cut your costs and leverage for other deals.

Thank you for the clear cut answer!

walk the streets, order coffee in the coffee shops, talk to the agents, go to the REIA meetings, call the contractors, meet with the property managers.Internet doesn't cut it.

I definitely learned how to get travel nurses in my rental but more importantly how to properly run a midterm rental business and get contracts with insurance companies and other industries I didn’t even thought of reaching out to (I learned more than what I thought of just by being surrounded by people with the same goal, and everyone was gracious enough to help guide me along, sharing their experiences and all the nuances in the journey that cut my learning curve/time). 

And for a seasoned developer to insist on cutting out the GC would be a red flag. 

So I'm sure someone with money and idea ready to go would be willing to pay to cut that time and risk out.