As the tax code is concerned all of the costs to create your rental property business (buying it and making it usable for it's intended use) and one in the same. 

I like that, unlike with say trading for a hedge fund, I can create opportunities for others rather than solely line the pockets of someone richer (that being said I still intend to make money).

Consider structuring your investment through an LLC for liability protection and tax flexibility.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

We create a new joint LLC for each investment, and each participant gets listed as an owner of the joint LLC. 

We have offered to allow her to pay a reduced rent for the first few months as well but I am worried that may create some sort of limit on how much we can raise the rent on her in the future.

To create rental income that enables financial freedom, you need a location that meets specific criteria.Rents increase faster than inflation: Prices and rents are driven by the imbalance between demand and supply.

That's probably why BP bought Left Field Investing to create PassivePockets.  

If your Real Estate goal is to create ancillary income for yourself in retirement (or even sooner), then anyone telling you to sell doesn't understand the goal.  

@Raul VelazquezCongrats on deciding to do something proactive to create a better future for yourself!

Giving them a laundry list of items will typically just overwhelm them and create more confusion instead of giving them a smaller step process to get more confidence to get the ball rolling and then they can get into the weeds on their state when they get the contractors out there, have local bids come in, and dial in their plan.