Ensure you get a detailed fee breakdown.With your solid income and credit, you should be able to find a more suitable loan without excessive fees, so I'd recommend getting a second opinion.

Use the excess cash to buy more real estate

BPCON is a GREAT place to network, find accountability partners, learn from tons of speakers, meet your favorite podcast hosts and authors, and even close deals while you're there (it wouldn't be a first!) 

I've been scouring the inter-webs for duplexes, but it doesn't seem like that's really a THING in North Dallas.

The applicant had this RE agent fill out my automated application on the web and did a terrible job of it leaving it amazingly incomplete with a bunch of "N/As" just to try and rush this applicant through.I waited for 48 hours and reposted. 

How do we protect ourselves from a tenant causing us significant damage in excess of the deposit amount? 

If you have extra taxes then you should absolutely account for them.Contact Vrbo, Airbnb and your local authority and see if they are automatically taken out or if you need to submit the extra taxes.

For example, if you are creating the LLC with more than one member, you should think about creating an operating agreement which will delineate the authority of each member; whether authority to manage the property will be vested in a manager; the process that more significant decisions are made (for example, will major decisions like whether to sell require a unanimous vote?)

The payment has a clause: By accepting this payment, I acknowledge and accept the following terms:I am the property owner (or an authorized agent for the owner) of the above-referenced property and I am authorized to receive payments.

Lower demand and excess of investment properties.