Any tips on balancing renovation costs with tenant expectations when preparing a property for midterm stays?

Use tools like the VA loan for house hacking and your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to cover living costs while building equity.

Even if they don't realize how much money you're costing them now, someone will tell them eventually and I don't think your canned wholesaling response is going to do much to repair the damage. 

You can also assess a dollar amount that you value the cost of these requests to be, and ask for these as a discount from the purchase price or a concession to you for closing costs. 

She’s currently not paying rent, and while she has some health issues and no stable income, she’s been communicative and open to general talks, with a possible option to vacate through a cash-for-keys arrangement, though this might take around six weeks and some hard work.I plan to rehab the property and eventually rent it out, potentially to a Section 8 tenant.

Rentrange costs the manager to run each report, so as long as you do not abuse it or send the PM 30 properties I would help you.

Finally, short-term rentals can offer potential tax advantages, as many expenses associated with the property may be deductible.

@Ben Syzek with $50k, you're probably looking at a property with a total cost (purchase price + reno) around $250k.

I don't see anything wrong with that approach but there isn’t a complete alignment of interest (the individual who wants to take over all construction services will want to focus on the projects with the greatest construction fee earning potential; the brokers will want to pursue more for-sale projects etc.).

My model is NOT good for LTR as it's not cost effective.