Is it a good choice for investment?  

@Kevin Connauton, I agree with you that although Pad Split is a great choice for getting the rooms filled, they don't cover all your bases in terms of property management.

Refrigerators aren’t typically expected in Texas single-family rentals, and it may be the same in Georgia.For other appliances, buying new is usually the better choice.

Aloha Joshua,  I deal with clouded/messy titles often and it's not my first choice as its froth with a lot of time, costs and risks. 

It's a challenging enough market with an abundance of bad actors.

It was kind of a bad spot in my life at the time.

Since you won't be able to recognize it as a valid rental if you're charging under market rent and you also expect to be covering any house expenses that are outside of her budget, this seems the best choice. 

Open ended contracts, particularly verbal ones, usually end badly.

Paulette, it is good to call out these bad contractors and unfortunately you are caught in a bad situation on what to do, start by a small threat that you will contact the BBB and report a claim if he does not show some progress, or if you know an attorney, maybe a simple letter from one may get him worried and he may start showing up.

Is it just a bad rule of thumb for an investment if you can't get positive cash flow for the first year or two?