Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – so, they often select the first PMC they call or that calls them back!

Depending on the price point if you could get two of those with reasonable 50% leverage you'll be on your way.

We think it will make a great short-term rental in a very office-space-heavy area.I want to offer her a higher sale price (closer to what she wants) if we can make the deal work for us.Any suggestions?

That's great to hear, it appear like OH is still holding strong in the rent to price ratio markets.

I would like to start out with reasonably priced rental ready 3bd/2ba homes that are not in warzones.2.

If you price the property correctly you should be able to move it.

1) you could call more contractors to get more pricing. 2) buy the fancy washer, charge more on the rent $$$ & make a special section on the leases about maintenance on these machines. 

I would like to use a PMS to automate most important booking platforms, price labs, etc.  

I guess you could limit by price, age, location.#2  Attend local meetups. 

The most common mistake, bar none, is to subtract the purchase price from the ARV, see a big number, and assume a huge profit.