My only concern is single-family rents could be flat for a few years due to the big run-up we've had in the past few years.In general, I like your proposed strategy.

Should I firmly tell her what to do or just let her decide and go with the flow?

So next time your CPA saids you can use education hours, looking at financial statements(investor hours), or my favorite “managing the property manager” run for the hills.

Running the heat is not nearly as costly as flood damage.You winterize by (at minimum) keeping heat on and draining exterior and unnecessary plumbing.

You are basically telling them they are running it perfectly and there’s no room for you to improve operations. 

Almost anything that has a guaranteed rate of return makes me want to scream and run the other direction, but this seems different. 

I talked with a lady who runs one there and she does OK.

  (1) It sounds like your LLC is a separate tax filer, but the issue you may run into is that the IRS makes it tricky to buy from "related persons" under IRC 267(b) (a category that includes business entities) in a 1031 exchange. 

For a unique deal like this, you may want to run it through several brokers to see if they have any options for you. 

(Side note I do live in a small town so may have to look in the larger city of Columbus which is an hour away, I've even thought of buying a home and offering it to a full time employee to move to this area but not sure if that would just create more headaches in the long run)