To the nuts and bolt question of what defines occupancy, it is the place you reside and spend the majority of your time/nights.

They are billed as "a scientific approach to single-family rentals" and use "institutional grade property management," which usually means they are a tech company in real estate and likely either don't have the existing property management relationships in each area or you chose an area where they don't have enough units through Roofstock for the PM they chose to care.

They do require these to be done on Primary Residence, and they probably do have a credit component, but may not have an income component to underwriting.

Typically, since I'm well connected because of flipping, HVAC, roofers, lawn care, carpenters, kitchen & bath & plumbers and electrical all are good sources.

No one cares about your properties like you do.

I don't care if 99 of 100 homes in the area have K&T, I would NOT buy it and leave it with K&T anywhere.

out of state is more difficult than advertised. do you already own a primary residence? 

My experience with S8: There is a reasonably strong correlation between S8 tenants and tenants that do not take care of a rental property. 

That said, you deserve a management team that treats your properties with the same level of care and attention as they would for larger clientsI’ve heard from other investors that finding a great PM company can be a game-changer.

You could house hack and use the other portion to AirBnb as then you meet the primary residence requirement in B.C.