You should not be losing money on cleans. 

Your property is also listed in multiple sites owned by Zillow, and is free! 

I tried to research the best and most user-friendly PM site that did not charge a fee to maintain a property, being that it was my first one and I was self-managing and not using a PM.  

Under Alabama law, that is a VERY dangerous play and you could end by losing money.You also cannot sit back and let him build the house and say "Thanks."

What will happen if she is late with rent or loses her job and can't pay rent for a few months?

The sooner that you can have crews actively working on-site, the better.

List your property on corporate rental sites like Blueground, Zeus Living, and Furnished Finder to attract high-income tenants. 

If you lose your source of primary income, do you have enough cash to make it through the crisis? 

There was a site I listed a house on to sell via bitcoin in 2014, no luck but I am sure there are other sites in 2017 or more than a few who would take bitcoin as trade. 

Make sure that your area states it directly.Otherwise, let the booking site handle things. 28 days isn't that long IMHO depending on the area or reason for traveling.