In addition, explain that it works sort like a passive income because the money are coming in monthly without her or her daughter lifting a finger!

That way it would be very clear who is at fault.Painting exterior of a property is not a cheap few hundred dollar job so im very surprised this would happen unless both you and the person you hired is not experienced enough / licensed.I don't want to make any assumptions or point fingers, but it sounds like it just your word against his.

My fingers are crossed that while not permitted from the get-go, that the work on the modification is code-compliant and that it'll just be a matter of just getting it permitted after inspection.

Do this over the next 6 months and you'll have a better "finger tip feel" of what a good deal should look like and the tax implications.  

Fingers crossed it works out.

Hiring someone for sure, fingers crossed it will turn out well. 

It's a way to stick your finger in the air and guestimate whether the property is a good rental or not.A property free and clear or a property heavily leveraged will not impact that % rule thing. 

Fingers crossed for you...

I'll try attaching the updated .pdf report to this reply (fingers crossed), and include a screenshot/.png just in case the .pdf doesn't make it:I've also plugged the property address into rentometer.com, although I didn't see a way to specify a triplex vs a SFH, but it looks like the average rent in the property area is $1,366.00. 

Fingers crossed!