In areas with low risk, maybe lots of photos then the final best applicants take in person first choice, if declines lease, then go onto second choice, etc. one at a time and use safe practices.

I'm curious how this works as a business model; when someone says they take OPM, how does that look in practice?

Practice.

For the next month or two or whatever time we as a society need to transition to a new normal, to overcome this initial fear, I'm in favor of keeping everyone in place.Regardless of how borrowers have acted in the past, they are still human beings and we all need to stick together, practice social distancing to "flatten the curve" until things settle down.

Create new relationships and continue to build on the existing ones.Now that you're transitioning to sales, I recommend calling warm/hot leads daily - FSBO, Expired, and buyer leads.Fsbos can be found on ZillowExpired on RedX and other platformsBuyer leads can be found at: open houses; Zillow/Realtor,Trulia; Running targeted FB ads; OR partnering with a trusted lender to supply in-house leads or sponsor some of your online ad spend.Book suggestionsI'd recommend:EVERY BP book -https://www.biggerpockets.com/storeMillionaire Real Estate investor AND Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller - very practical books.

Is she on to something or is this standard practice?

My personal take is: these houses have been there for 100 years already, there is a good chance they will continue to be there for another 100+.I also think there are some changes to modern building practices that make some modern homes less structurally sound than most older, i.e. 24 OC framing just always seems like it won't stand the test of time like 16 OC has. 

Finally, I've been analyzing deals as practice just to get the math down to manage overall risk. 

@Armani Emon, from the prior two posts, which are both totally accurate, this is one reason consulting with an experienced real estate professional can be very beneficial, especially when starting out.Standard appraisal practice is to find the most recent sales, in the small radius of your subject, then start adjusting for beds/baths/size/finish quality/land/etc.  

But it will most likely matter a lot for most investors.Disclaimer: While I’m an attorney licensed to practice in PA, I’m not your attorney.