If they are moving, they are motivated and need to move.

What are some ways things could be structured so as to motivate my seller to act more quickly on what needs to be done before she can legally sell?

Handwritten bandit signs easiest way to get motivated leads 

I still do deals here in Maricopa County but our marketing dollars go a lot further in Cook County (Chicago), the sellers are extremely more motivated and the market is still in transition so in certain areas the deals are plentiful

Can you recommend any great quality, efficient decently priced trades/GCs?

Currently there are properties with motivated sellers.

Consist of 8-1br, 8-efficiencies, and 4 units in between.

If you can find a 3/2 basket case to buy cheap and then put it back together in a cost efficient way, you could flip it after a year or two, then repeat. 

@Iyey Nur mention to them that you're planning to lawyer up, might be just the motivation they need to look a little harder.

I’m definitely interested in maximizing my opportunity to acquire and close on deals as efficiently as possible, and this sounds like a great strategy to do just that (While also staying within the confines of the law:)