Any thoughts to share on my plan?

[Alexus Wenstad]

Looking for some advice from experienced investors or those in the same boat.

I live in Arizona and visit family in Georgia pretty much every year. The market where my sister lives has some pretty affordable homes and I was thinking about buying a home there. A couple ways to go about it.

The particular home I found is about $80k. It is a 3 bed, 2 bath- has 1 bed and 1 bath upstairs, with a full kitchen, den, living room and 1250 Sq ft. It also has a basement with another bathroom, a standalone sink that could become a kitchen/kitchenette, and 2 rooms that can be used as entertainment areas or bedrooms as listed.

One option is to buy as a vacation home, with 10% down, and then use the basement as an airbnb rental. I also thought about letting a family members stay there on the main floor, either free or for well under fair market prices.But I am not sure the extent to which that would be allowed since vacation homes are not supposed to be rented out- altho I would think an airbnb type wouldn't matter if it's just a part of the home, since people rent out their primary residence all the time, but I obviously don't know. I did talk to a lender and she said that airbnb and renting to family isn't allowed, but I keep finding stuff that says it is allowed.

Other option is to just buy as a rental property, with 20% down. I am looking at refinancing my primary home so that I don't have to use my savings for the down payment. Then I would think I have more flexibility to my use - whether I want to do airbnb, or a long term rental of either the main floor or basement.

Also, it is near a military base, about 30 minutes away, not sure a long term rental to someone on base would be more worthwhile than airbnb.

Sorry this was so long! Just starting out and would love any feedback!