If you felt better having someone on your side, it'd be cheaper to pay an RE agent than a lawyer.Do you have a turnkey company picked out you want to buy from?

Live in it for a year same as above making sure that the rents you get from this house also pays the mortgage so you can save more money again for the next home. . 

my co-worker is from Canada and was working in the US for over 3 years on a visa before buying his condo. he had no debt and had strong salary history - however, he couldn't qualify for a traditional mortgage because he didn't have any credit history in the states.

Something that would parallel a pre-qualification letter from a mortgage lender?

Thinking of getting a mortgage of around 100k with very little down (I took a class that will allow the bank to give me a loan with only 3% down payment) then investing most of my 15k into reno. 

It doesn't impact the mortgage so the lender shouldn't care (not something they need to know about). 

While almost everyone here claimed they wanted to keep emotions out of their decisions, they were always included.I would have to review the lease, management contract, and local eviction process to be sure, BUT I doubt it would be a good financial decision to start an eviction.I do agree with @Joe Villeneuve if she is an otherwise good tenant it might be a good idea to put her in a cheaper unit.

I suspect that many of these homes are not owned outright.Is it common for people to do seller-financing on their homes as a wraparound mortgage?

We currently own one house that has around 44k left on its mortgage and has a value of around 120k that we rent out with positive cash flow. 

The client used another contractor that did it for cheaper as a favor.