If not, and she basically just wants out, why not let her do the leg work to find a new tenant.

i went to change a sink faucet the other day. the tenant (squirrel lady), sat in the living room the whole time watching Northwoods Inc or whatever the hell the "cops in the woods of Maine" show is called.she was giving me a play by play the entire time and was getting out of the chair waving her finger upset that the cops wont book "those dirty criminals that destroy our woods".

Without a contract, they have no legal leg to stand on.

I am also legal in my area, which gives me a leg up in terms of advertising.

So... you exchange your lack of down payment for doing all of the leg work to find and structure the deal.  

I'm 28, I make about $200k/yr, and have about $100k in liquid savings right now after purchasing my personal home two years ago.This seems to me like maybe if I'm lucky I can buy a property every ~3 years (depending on price, but expecting a minimum downpayment of $100k as an example).Many of the books I've read reference acquiring OPM and structuring deals so it makes sense to the investors as they get to be hands-off and I do all the leg work.

While lots of leg-work can be done virtually, there is no substitute for visiting a market to get a true feel of what makes it work.

good job nice leg work 

You should always always always start with your network: folks you know already, because once you get your license and get your sea legs, you will want to use those people you know, and who like and trust you.

What I found out that works well is doing most of the leg work up front for the investors letting them know this is an A+ or B+ area and the rent rolls are _________ & who their renters will most likely be.