Unfortunately, we bought the home when the rates were at all time lows, so selling or refinancing are not at all ideal at this time (I have been living in the home, she never ended up moving in, I'd prefer to stay with or without her at this point).  

These are NOT your friends who happen to be realtors that sell houses part time, and it's not a quick Zillow search for "best realtor in my area", these agents need to be ones that work extensively with investors of a wide variety. 

I have my flip for sale but it's not selling.

Don't sell under duress.

Determine whether to hold the properties for rental income, sell them for profit, or pursue other investment opportunities in the future.

., and my cost seg firm was able to hit 30%, so I got to write off about ~300K against my W2.There will be depreciation recapture when you sell, but it is a lower tax rate (25%) than what you are at currently, I assume. 

My neighbor knew that we wanted to buy their place once they were ready to sell.

When rates come down a bit, you can refi or sell for even greater profit.  

What if one has a very serious emergency and needs to sell?

These are generally 12-24 month interest only loans that borrowers will generally pay back by selling or flipping to long term financing like DSCR loans.More on DSCR loans:DSCR loans won't use your income to underwrite the loan.DSCR loans are based off of down payment, credit score and either actual or market rents so it helps to supercharge an investor's real estate goals and net worth.Here's a bit more in detail about how rates are calculated for DSCR loans:1.