Want higher reward?

Ensure major decisions are made jointly.This setup balances the partnership and fairly rewards both contributions.

I would say that the section 8 experience has been overall the most rewarding on a deeper level.  

Fixer uppers - higher risk higher reward potentialTurnkey - lower risk lower reward potentialDepends on your skills and how heavy of a turn the property is. 

Early Financial freedom will forever elude the person earning a middle class income, but who is unwilling to do some combination of quitting their job for something much higher risk/reward, like starting a business, drastically cutting back on expenses, etc.

You both have to be on board or it doesn’t work, but if you work together and have a goal, then each step towards that goal feels more rewarding, even if it’s just saving $x more a month towards a future down payment.

Without more information, I wouldn't give much more than general advice which includes pros and cons.Risk, potential rewards, and skills make a difference. 

Home ownership is awesome and being a part of it is a truly rewarding feeling2.

But if you can, then look to see about the cost versus reward of making it more renter friendly.If you just have a half bath, then adding a shower is critical unless you want to let these people use your shower upstairs. 

A LL may have previously rewarded her for not paying rent and you are considering doing the same.