To top it off, she works in the marketing department of a large real estate company and she has often expressed to me the opinion that "people become real estate agents when they don't know what else to do".

As of recent I have had multiple investors express a need for some sort of project management company or individual to act as a reliable source to see that work is getting completed correctly and in a timely fashion.I do know that some property management companies are not always willing to see the project through from start to finish.

The property has current tenants, which have expressed interest to stay.  

Walmart pay cards also work.Tenants receiving government benefits on the Direct Express card, do not have access to an account number so they can't autopay via ACH debit on our system--  they can pay using their Direct Express card as a credit card but the fees are much higher.

I had a mentor ( not Realestate mentor) tell me that I shouldn’t get into rentals due to the unpredictability of the tenants and given my current financial situation he expressed concern about me not being able to cover and unforeseen expenses upfront due to my limited amount of capital available to invest.

I haven’t had my agent ask for anything quickly  or expressed urgency.

We've used a policy through our insurance agent called Vacant Express. 

There is an express bus (Q15) the A and J train and LIR from Kew Gardens. 

I must not research or listen enough, as I haven't heard any of those expressions used.

If you have express permission then it's not a problem.When making entry into the property usually to fix something, I do it all through text so that I then have a log and documented permission from them.