Are there any other neighborhoods/regions of Oklahoma City that have demonstrated good cash flow but also decent appreciation?

This business is all about relationships when buying/selling notes, and having a track record to demonstrate you have the experience churning these and the systems in place to buy them.  

I believe in demonstrating rather than just explaining.

So the buyer had to demonstrate all the differences between his restaurant business, which was established and had several successful other locations already, and the previous new startup restaurant that had failed, to get over the "his type of business" = "a business of that same sort, at that same location, in fact in that exact same building, that had already failed, WTF makes you any different?" 

I think, whether you're ready from a cash perspective or not at this point it would still be helpful to build a relationship with some trusted lenders who have demonstrated experience with helping househackers/investors for them to coach you a bit on what steps to take now while you are saving up!

Dominic,You have a lot of questions which is great but the questions demonstrate this is your first REI and having partners can complicate things if not handled correctly. 

The only way you can demonstrate the power is through education or experience, and it doesn't sound like she wants to give it a shot.

So, you need to show lots of income to demonstrate that you can pay it back. 

And as a bonus apparently you'd save $7k+.But I won't close your sub-to unless you demonstrate the means and ability to problem-solve if and when it goes sideways. 

How you approach the mentor demonstrates how you will approach real estate investing.