Quote from @Simone Montague-Jackson: You can house hack with up to four units.

How the house photographs gets more eyes on it.

Use the two years to learn the area and I would suggest as soon as you can, find a duplex and start a house hack. 

2 years to build a house is crazy.

@Jason Sinclair, having a designer for a wife, I would answer that it really depends heavily on each house, the flow and usability of the spaces as they are, and the overall use of space in the house as a whole.That being said, while there may be a small shift towards more separated spaces, "open concept" is by no means dead, and in many markets, most people seem to still want to have connectivity between their communal spaces.In fact, my wife's current flip is a split level (although technically it is a split-foyer), and she is taking out a structural wall to connect the kitchen, dining and living areas.  

Do they mainly look for houses?

If so, you may be able to wholesale the property to someone (perhaps even someone in one of those $400,000 houses) in such a way that you and your grandmother come out whole.

And yeah, team’s the dealbreaker—our in-house management and tight underwriting keep us at 10% cash-on-cash, while I’ve seen quads crash from sloppy execution.

A tenant complaining online might indicate that the property manager handled them appropriately, so be sure to ask the manager for their side of the story.7.

It's growing rapidly and price of labor/ housing is dirt cheap.