Paying down a mortgage early is an emotional decision, not a math decision. 

First, make sure you have enough cash flow from your current job and investments to cover your existing bills + a healthy savings rate, especially in times like this with weakened job security. 

It's a nice emotional and financial boost if you can see immediate results.

And yes not everybody ends up in that position but I see it very often (which is yet another reason I don’t self manage - too close and too little separation between the emotional/ personal attachment and the professional businesslike approach).

This helps take the emotions out of potential deals and enables you to see potential profit and compare deals side by side.

Take emotion out of the equation.

Fast forward two months, she told me that her pet is actually an emotional support animal and asked if I can return her monthly pet fee and pet deposit and waive them going forward. 

My opinion is that there are emotional (obviously) and extreme opinions on both ends, and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Certainly there is an emotional component here, but this is basically a math problem we can solve for to determine the best outcome

I think if you take emotions out your search and if you would live there you'll find some good positive cash flow.