It sounds like she needs to sell sooner rather than later given it's in pre-foreclosure, and there are a lot of repairs that need to be done. 

We’re playing catch up (paying extra on the loans to pay them off sooner).

Identify those shifts sooner rather than later. 

You cover closing costs, having your loan pre written from bank, schedule inspection sooner.

I think you will be able to build on it sooner than you think.  

I'd rather spend that time at the gym or learning a language.My plan is to rotate entirely out of SFHs (whether I or a PM manages them) in the next few years. 

So they try to learn more thinking the more they learn the sooner they start.

@Greg Dowdell I'm not an attorney so I can't speak to the legality per se, but for me, as long as it's not generally too cold I think the degree of how much extra I'd be willing to pay to resolve it sooner would depend partly on my relationship with the tenants, whether they are paying below market, at-market or above-market rent, etc.It might be a good idea to get some space heaters for the tenants as a show of good faith for them in the meantime.

We don’t know how long the interest rates will stay this low and I’d rather get started sooner rather than later.

Figure out a way to get someone in there sooner.