I may invest in oakland that has even more tenant-friendly environment but they ain't too strict on code enforcement lol.it just not worthed time and struggle since we're OOSI. 

Im from Hot springs and currently have long term rentals, I know the market pretty well since being a local, it can definitely be a good str investment as it does have many attractions from historic downtown, national parks, magic springs, lakes and more but it seems like they are getting more strict on strs, may be best to look for properties already licensed or look just outside of city limits since no str permit is needed, I know long term rentals are killing it just due to low supply and heavy demand

This is a house hack so you are going to be living with this person so I'd be more vs. less strict. 

And yes, there was an early termination clause in my lease but it is strictly with my agreement to proceed. 

@Ryan Fox I have been a PML for nearly 10 years and, in the beginning, I wasn't strict about getting an insurance binder in place BEFORE funding nor making sure my borrowers had the right coverage.

If this is strictly for investment purposes there are tools like STR Insights and AirDNA to assess further first.

Not strictly my field, do your own research.

The lenders with the more flexible guidelines (allow a lower FICO, higher LTV, less seasoning, etc) tend to have higher rates than the lenders with more strict guidelines. 

These large buyers targeted primary sunbelt and growth market cities like Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, and Charlotte and built strict buy-boxes around the number of beds, baths, square footage, distance from city center, etc.

Anything I've bought strictly as a rental was either a dual agent scenario or I worked directly with the seller to buy the property with no agents involved (I literally did this for my first multi-family deal back in 2016).And don't feel too bad about the shady selling agent and seller as it happens.