I'm not familiar with loan applications for non-US citizens, but Greenville is still a great place to invest when you find off-market deals.

But then, in the public meeting, people were like “uh what about unmarried couples?

Signs of this are poor lease quality, maybe M2M tenants, high expenses (unnecessary things like high trash bills, internet, cleaning, security).

Note investing can be divided into performing vs non performing.  

Must have multi-family zoning and be 500+ feet away from another non-owner occupied STR or you must live in the property for 6 months out of the year. 

If you think there might be the possibility of development raising the value in the future, you could try renting out the property to others for non-intrusive uses - parking, roadside vendor, etc. 

It would just have to be non-owner-occupied and with a 20% done payment. 

If using a lender this is a non issue.

That means either you won't cash flow or your Return on Equity (ROE) will be terrible.Since this is your primary residence you'll be exempted from paying capital gains taxes when you sell.If you sell to your parents, it will be considered a non-arms length transaction and will get closer scrutiny.

Is it overkill for a potential non-problem?