My fiance landed a job at a real estate broker in town as an office assistant to learn the ebb and flow of the industry. 

You will likely only need one lender to assist you and they don’t need to be with your current financial institutions.

Or hoping the Fed working its magic does not accidentally cut its lovely assistant in half. quadrillion is after trillion. 

Another market to plug into are traveling healthcare workers (nurses, physical therapists, physicians assistants, etc) www.furnishedfinder.com - they rent shorter term than a long term tenants but longer than VRBO & Airbnb. 

I know it's a slightly higher rate for the down payment assistance, but now I wonder whether the forgivable version is an even higher rate.

The SBA has drastically reduced their requirements for acquiring a small business disaster relief loan.https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19I know there are a lot of locals here on the Austin forum that make their living in the industry. 

Wouldn't it be much easier for the government to assist with rent payments to tenants that might have been financially affected by covid?

I am not familiar with anything above the Florida border so I cannot assist you... other than on general questions about RE Investing.

If I may assist please reach out.

I don't think that knocking on a door asking for rent would be productive, but maybe a handwritten note on their door, asking them if they need assistance with anything?