She's not on title, she may be able to close in her name alone BUT no your income would not be included for a "first time buyer" as you own.

When qualifying in this regard, since this is considered variable income, you will need at least 12-24 months of receiving this form of income, in order to use it for qualifications, similar to travel nurses.

I have almost no capital to start, but have a steady income from my day job.

You think losing a $20k EMD when you don’t close sucks, but the seller might get hit with a $100k tax bill when you don’t close, on top of losing their own EMD. 

Many national STR PM companies working on a percentage of gross income (Daily rates + cleaning fees) charge an elevated cleaning fee.

In terms of cash reserves outside of that we don't have anything substantial saved (our savings went to the earnest money) so our priority is to pay down the HELOC and increase income.

I suggest making a cash flow play for your first investment, but if you have a high income already, it may make sense to aim for appreciation. 

So you want to lock in the gains as tax free gains before turning it into a rental.

They benefit by having a year lease with guaranteed income.

I'm just making about $250 net each month off of $1900/month rent (about $1,450 total for mortgage, insurance, taxes, etc.) , but appreciation has helped, the tenant is great, I have a property manager.