I am completely open in terms of new investment opportunities / investment types.

Others already gave you info on where to find tenant's rights, but for utilities and lawn maintenance, they signed the lease agreeing to those terms.

I have wonderful long-term tenants whose lease ends June 30th.

Here are some diagrams to help you in your quest for answers on this subject:Asset Protection Decision Diagram - to help assess the need for asset protection, and what to implement : https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/CosIorg/file/asset-protection-decision-diagramAsset Protection Onion Diagram - what, when and at what cost one should implement in terms of asset protection - https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/CosIorg/file/asset-protection-onion-diagram-v2What is needed for a complete asset protection OR the domains that need to be intersected to find asset protection

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?

Prepayment penalties- usually 1-5 year terms.

It requires the borrower has significant experience and is very costly (in terms of rates/origination)It's generally really risky to do 100% financing especially if you are inexperienced.

However, I'm concerned about the high monthly payments that come with shorter loan terms.

If you get caught doing a STR in areas they are not allowed, you will most likely get a warning at first, and then they can fine you if you keep renting out short term. 

You can also hold the security deposit for those repairs (if you've stated those terms in your lease agreement).The short of the long here is that they're in violation of the lease and you are able to take action.