I don't want any part of her money, and do just fine earning for myself.The scenario here is that she didn't come into $2m(I know that was just a guesstimate and I didn't specify what she came into), but she came into a few hundred thousand which won't necessarily sustain her for the rest of her life.

My guess is even that is only a couple hundred and again not worth the fight. 

You spent hundreds of thousands on a home (I would guess) why cheap out on the legal document between you and person living in your investment? 

Install should be around $2 pSF.Flooring is not "ALWAYS" done after kitchen remodels, in fact, it is better to run flooring under the cabinets so you don't have to add quarter round to fill the gap later.

You might be in an area that VRBO has big inroads in, and you'll only get a few listings when you could get hundreds.....

Very basic 2 story 3 bedroom 1 bathroom units (2 mini houses on 1 parcel of land) so the main things to update were paint, counters to granite, made the cabinets look better with wood work and paint.

There are hundreds of questions I can ask you to figure out ways to properly invest your military money into Real Estate.

I would be glad to help answer any questions for your scenario as I have helped hundreds of clients with refinances to know what their best options are in their individual scenarios.  

For example, use laminate counters not granite, consider painting cabinets, perhaps leave a bathroom intact if it's serviceable.

My area is probably unique because there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of homes that are boarded up, but have huge potential.