Keep it because it cash flows alright for her, but be sure to start putting away some of that money for CAP EX and repairs until she has about $12k in reserves.

Possibly a little more but going to make sure I build up a nice reserve for the "just in case" scenario.  

I always try to see what happens if occupancy is less than expected, expenses are higher, how long the property would take to self-support (i.e. build reserves for capex through after-tax cash flow), etc.

It may take some time to build up reserves.

Most people have a reserve have a HELOC.

Even with my sweetest seller-financed multi's that had equity day one and were ready to go, it took a 10% down payment plus some reserves.  

If any capex expenses show up before the property itself has generated the required reserves you're going out of pocket.

His situation is this:  He has just over $100k in cash in the bank; He has a w-2 job that gets him $100k-120k a year; He has $0 debt besides besides car insurance/cell phone (he lives with his parents still); He has  720-760 credit score; And he is currently in the Army reserves and eligible for a VA loan.  

However, interest rates can only remain so low before the market starts to overheat, and with a stronger economy based on recent job numbers, the Federal Reserve Bank ("Fed") will inevitably start to revert back to a "normalized" interest rate target.Going forward, the Fed will probably raise rates at about 25 bps (0.25%) per quarter.

Also putting the money in escrow keeps it held in reserve by a third party and out of your pocket, which defeats the purpose of collecting the option fee payment.