I'm trying to start off with something closer to Houston as my first property, but will keep College station in mind for the future. 

These structures are significantly more complicated than a typical 1031 Exchange structure and there are inherent risks involved in the transaction, some of which are discussed below.

Be mindful of short-term capital gains tax, as profits from flips held for less than a year are taxed as ordinary income, and frequent flipping may result in self-employment taxes.While profits from flips do not qualify for 1031 exchanges (since flips are considered inventory, not investment properties), you can minimize your tax burden by deducting allowable expenses like renovation costs, loan interest, and holding expenses.If you're considering diversifying into rentals, explore opportunities to benefit from long-term tax advantages such as depreciation and lower long-term capital gains rates.

We do attempt to notify the owner before we make the decision and give them the opportunity to give input but keeping the property and tenant safe, and following the Tenant Landlord Laws are more important than getting permission. 

Usually there's a lockup period (often three years) in note funds, so you can't use that cash to do direct note investing.  

.- Who better to show the house and speak positively about than a current tenant?

I cannot specifically think of any issue at all but occasionally we have had complaints about something clearly listed and when we point them to it the complaining usually stops. 

Lenders usually determine whether properties are lendable based on the debt service coverage ratio. 

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs: Quote from @Engelo Rumora: @David KanarekI don't think I have ever seen better investigative research than this.Hat's off to you and sorry for your troubles and everyone else's.Please don't investigate me haha Engelo as someone that has taken this kind of abuse on BP and SM  and lived to fight another day I think you understand better than most investors mind set and how they feel or attack if their deal does not go right.  

In the future, I plan to have more rentals but more interested in out-of-state investing than in state so I currently only have the one rental.