If you remain resident in Canada, in augmentation of Eamonn's advice, I would suggest you consult with a CPA - and possibly attorney - experienced with Canadian tax law and business organisation when holding foreign assets.Having your U.S.A. business (and assets/properties) be held and operated within a U.S.A. corporate entity will provide you with control over the repatriation of retained earnings.  

Crying ….as you say not relevantHealth issue.... not relevantMarket rent...extremely relevantCost of tenant turnover....not relevant (cost built into expenses)The cost to you of reducing her rent is:late payments, chasing her for rent, excuse after excuse, ultimate eviction and vacancy plus a loss of $100/ month in the interim (plus a guaranteed lose of a minimum 1 months rent, if not more, before you ultimately get rid of her.)  

Then reduce it back down once the property is 20 percent paid off?

My problem is I don't have a high-paying job to back into like a lot of investors on BP and my only other passion is a career with low earning potential (film directing), so I feel like adding value through doing my own work is a great way to make this a full-time gig sooner than later while maybe supplementing our income with part-time work or start contracting for others once I get more experience.

The Money Show podcast by Mindy Jenson and Scott Trench gives great advice on how to earn additional income and save money so that you can use it for a down payment eventually. 

I've already been reducing my personal monthly expenses.My question is, how long did it take you to acquire your first property and how did you do it?

Assuming all things are equal for these two props, but they are just in different areas of the same city, I would look at things like economic development (new projects, new businesses moving in, large companies opening facilities), proximity to job centers where people can earn the wage they'd need to rent the property (being close to a lot of very low-paying jobs isn't very helpful if you're looking at a nicer property, the people in the area have to be able to afford it), walkability, neighborhood amenities, etc.

My objective however is to reduce my tax liability today.

Depending on your area that potentially could bring you in higher yields, thus more cash, to get it paid down and reduces your risk.

Buying several stable properties with high cash flow out of the gates will probably balance out to make as much financial sense as the equity earned in one or two BRRR deals because the equity in the BRRR deals will probably be cancelled out by vacancy losses and opportunity cost.