To cut the story short, she mentioned to me that she is stressed out about her current situation with her home.

As an aside, these property managers were recommended to me by a friend and of course had stellar references. 

Without any other details, it just seems easier to me, if you are set on buying property like that

Which is fine, that's 100% a viable strategy, but I've never heard an agent say to me "oh our mutual client is writing a bold offer" to describe what you're doing, instead they say "oh our mutual client is writing a weak offer."

Are there still good buys to me made in this area?

Much appreciated your guy's opinion meant a lot to me .

I love walking into a house that reeks of pet urine; turns off other buyers (smells like money to me).  

To me this has came off as more of an autobiography with snippets of valuable information.

Check, money order, cash, ACH, google, deposit-only debit card, whatever, get that rent to me and I'm happy.For digital payments, I have used Cozy in the past, which is great.

I am having a hard time estimating which approach is best and/or which approach would get to me my goal of having an owner occupied property quicker?