They are investor friendly and popular amongst wholesalers.

I'm hoping this forum can help me understand what my alternatives are.

Alternatively, if the bank ( assuming there is a bank) is fine with it, you could negotiate a credit and escrow the funds to be released after you do it yourself.  

In terms of maximizing your returns you want to compare the interest to an alternative.

In my experience, and this will not be terribly popular here, but no you should not buy out of state if you cannot visit the area before you purchase if.

This means that someone who makes $43,000/year would now eligible to buy this room condo, and have access to a vehicle through which to build equity in an asset as an alternative to paying rent. 

Alternatively, yes you could sell, pay taxes on the gain, and use the proceeds to help your mom directly.Would suggest for you to talk to a CPA and a 1031 specialist to confirm your best move!

They're highly popular for turnkey rental properties because qualification is primarily based on the income generated by the property itself rather than the borrower.

I'm looking for alternatives, I liked LandlordStudio actually but I hate the name, seems so impersonal to the tenants and not in their favor.  

As you're looking at properties it's best to identify multiple potential replacement properties to give you more opportunities and alternatives.