When it comes to long-term rentals, enjoy stable income with minimal fuss, although the slower equity growth and lower returns are part of the package.

-Laith  Hey Laith,If you can go conventional, that's the least expensive way to go. 

The issue is, based on her credit report and other known info, I added all the expenses: (car payment $722, debt obligation/month $1900, rent, renters insurance, utilities, estimated grocery, living necessities, her total **essential** expenses would be at least $800 greater than her net income. 

Likely the roof and the HVAC/furnace will be the biggest expenses that might occur but a hot water heater here, a clogged toilet there and suddenly the bills start adding up.

Point is, you either suffer with lower quality and manage them closely (may as well do it yourself at that point) or get licensed and learn the business.

You estimated 5% ($100) each for maintenance and capital expenses which is good, BUT you entered $0 for vacancy and $0 for management.

You need to develop a Scope Of Work that is precise and then start getting prices for all the work.Once you have that magic number, then you will add that to the cost you pay for the house, along with any other fees or expenses...Then look at finished Comps (get a Realtor like @Chris Ayars said) and see if you will make any money......

Opening walls gets expensive. 

It seems really useful and has shown me some cool properties in different markets, but I’ve tried cross referencing the numbers in airdna and get much lower estimates than what the newsletter shows.So I’m cautious of how accurate it is.

It's hard to get an accurate ROI the way you are asking as you lived there so you have paid the mortgage on it for a number of years which will skew the numbers...At this point look at the cash flow and base the cash on cash return off of your down payment and current monthly expenses..OR, look at it another way, how many years or renting it will it take to get your initial down payment back?