I've wondered about some sort of artists'/musicians' retreat space, but not sure about the numbers of that.I would love to hear your ideas!

I agree we are quite active in the space. 

Don't see any major red flags here, so long as you are comfortable in the low income space.

As I mentioned above, the risk of being sued, found guilty, and fined more than your insurance will cover is almost non-existent. 

Her contract says nothing about set up fees or early termination; I gave a generous offer to keep $400 as a design fee, but she sent me (2) $30 deadbolts and said the Technology Fee was non-refundable.There's other, better STR management companies out there.

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.

We are closing on our first South Bend rental property next week, as our local market opportunities have become non-existant unfortunately.  

Note investing can be divided into performing vs non performing.  

Converting the basement to a living space to make a duplex.

The way that things like this are typically handled is that if a lawsuit were to happen, since both people have been behaving under the assumption of a lease (the landlord renting their space and the tenant paying rent), they would probably treat it as if there was a standard month to month lease agreement.