Depends.

Its a great place for cash flow and depending on your investment strategy there is a very wide range of types of investments.I have been working on the investment side of real estate for several years now and know the city very well when it comes to buy and holds.I own a few myself and have and have wholesaled and worked with a ton of buy and hold investors.You need to be careful of what you are really buy in SA though as what you are experiencing in Austin is happening here as well but mainly on in low-end properties.

If she can't wait that longAustin's solution for seller financing is great but I can tell that neither you nor your friend have much experience in real estate so that may be tricky for you guys to negotiate.Another option is to look for a deal together and you buy the deal and sell her a note for x% financing or partner up on a deal 50/50 if you have the funds.It really depends on your friend's objectives.

It all depends. 

Depending on your area, renting short-term and long-term can be very profitable as the TDYers have lodging allowances that are based on the average daily rate for a hotel, usually $2800-$4000 per month.

It really depends on you're comfortable with and your goals.

Depending on BTU of the unit.

I'd say it really depends if you are an established agent or a brand new agent.  

What @Chris Martin said.A real estate/closing attorney, a promissory note and a deed of trust are the primary (sometimes only) ingredients needed or required to close on a property using private or hard money in this state.The going rate around here for a RE attorney to draft or review these docs and close a loan is anywhere from around $400 to upwards of $1,000 depending on who you know, how much business you throw their way, or the direction of the wind that day.The cleanest way to do it, if you're interested in that sort of thing, is for the PML to have their own RE attorney draft the lender docs (Note, DOT, some want a personal guaranty as well) and then use a different RE attorney to close the transaction with.

I use to hire builders and now we do it in house, but depending on where you are wanting to build I may have a few good builder contacts for you if you need them.