I am open to any suggestions, mentoring opportunities and advice/tips you may have.

Not to say you can't make it work, there's definitely opportunity... but I would take it slow, utilize this platform and those who've already generously reached out to you to help, and know your numbers. 

How you decide to finance the deal is very impactful on which opportunities will make sense or not.

We lost the equity piece of BRRRR, but we gained appreciation - something I did not see much in the earlier years.We work with the same contractors, we have standardized materials, we use the same vendors and SKUs for the most part - but still: if I am not on the job 3 times a week and check in on progress, quality and issues, things go sideways.Most of our OOS clients end up doing paint & carpet and will later say they are so glad they did not take on more! 

We are living in an age of scams.....it's a full time job just being vigilant to all the crap going on....

I'm nervous because I've never had a business before and I still have a full-time job as a cloud solutions architect, which I'm really passionate about - so hopefully it won't be my golden handcuffs that may prevent me to thrive as an investor and  I'm excited because of all the benefits and freedoms being a business owner offers, one of which is to connect and collaborate with forums like this and people like all of you, where I can both learn from and hopefully share later as I develop more experience. :-)

If the market shifts or similar properties are selling for less, bring this up as it might make your offer more appealing.However, if after several attempts there's still no movement and you feel the deal isn’t going anywhere beneficial, it might be wise to focus your attention on other opportunities.

I noticed a big downturn in the job market in my industry (software development) which is very unusual. 

And I saw an article last week that had Jacksonville climbing to, "...number two in the nation for hottest job markets according to a new analysis by the Wall Street Journal and Moody Analytics.

If she has a job and can afford the rent now, I'm thinking she would not qualify for Section 8 assistance.