In Texas, there is a requirement you mitigate the lease breakage by making an active effort to get the property re-leased. 

Is that directly due to the capital improvements, or was there another phenomenon at play?

She is risk adverse (but smart, a great saver & frugal) so we played Let’s Make a Deal.

And in order to post said advertisements (blind person could see it was simply a request for help and mentorship without being a bum or bringing nothing to the table) i was told i need to pay to play.

Property was previously rented but the tenant was evicted because of missing payments.I always get a lacklusture response from the PM company that they are actively marketing the property.

As I did, I'd recommend that you have the Lease-Option Contract drawn up by YOUR local attorney, and make sure seller's signatures are notarized and recorded against the property title at the counties registrar's office, so that it cannot be sold to anyone else while your purchase option remains active.

I understand it takes quite a bit to get started in this market, and we wish to play it extremely safe in order to mitigate any large losses up front.

And if you are an active investor I would sell it because you will have other properties come your way if you are an active investor. 

I believe they all have their pluses and minuses and all have an important role to play in a properly balanced portfolio.1) single-family rentals: this is the core of my real estate portfolio.

A employment income is your source of money to invest.Real estate investing is not a career it is a activity.