He has a letter attached with his pets and how they will enjoy the spacious backyard, etc...Also, mentioning upstairs bonus room to use as man cave but I'm single story with no upstairs...copy & paste job.

Be open to what comes and in my experience you'll have a much better time abroad.Your strategy seems part investment and part home-buyer here.Putting the pieces together here:  if you have a home in your sights that works financially, you are down to fully furnish it (Airbnb style super cute stuff), and you would be delighted with living there 2.5 years later OR continuing to operate it as a rental (either STR or LTR depending on what is most opportune at the time) then I'd so go for it! 

I feel if i cave in, i will lose ground.

If you're going to cave in just because a tenant threatens to sue you then rental real estate isn't for you.

With plenty of storage, and delightful updates, this home offers plenty of options for easy living.

It is a SFH adapted as a Duplex so it has two listings out from the Same Property, both beautifully renovated and decorated to the delight of the guest.

I eventually caved and made sure they complied, extra strictly, with clean up and all.

Yes, it's a cave to what the lease says... but if you want a simple, happy landlording experience, that would be my move.  

Everything was delightful, so long as interest rates never increased. 

To my delight, I later discovered that the video had been viewed 12 times within just three days.