I started looking a bit into Rochester which has a way lower price point for multi families and single families but obviously I would be unable to house hack as it is 5 hours away from NYC which I will not be commuting lol.

Without reserves, they might be unable to evict tenants or prepare the units once they are vacant.

I wanted to buy a property live in it and then rent it out later on but in the DMV areas the housing market is extremely hot and people bid 20k over asking price on houses that only have 900sqft so I decided to get into Airbnb Rental Arbitrage not only because I'm unable to get a house but mainly because I've always wanted to get into Airbnb Rental Arbitrage but never really gave much thought to it.

Also, be careful with any contractor recommending or suggesting you pull an owner-builder permit as this is usually a sign they are unlicensed or unable to pull their own permits.

However, I have never been unable to get insurance here. 

Many who want to scale  fail to take this into consideration,  take on too many projects at once, have no capital to advance the construction and ultimately get stuck in mud unable to advance any of their projects.

I don't know your state but I suspect you would be breaking some law, as you are likely unable to legally market something you don't own or have use and possession rights.

The issue is 11 month warranty repairs that I am unable to schedule because tenant is not responding.

Casper’s land market can be a bit like tracking a rare species in the wild.. you’ve got to know where to look, who to trust, and how to time your move.

The last thing you want to do is use hard money to purchase a property you want to keep but then be unable to refi out of the hard money.