Income should be at least 3 times as well, otherwise they'll most likely move out when you up the rent (I made this mistake once).

Make sure your listing clearly outlines your screening criteria as well as your "house rules" if you're renting out a single room in your home.

Two different ways to go and both work well.

If you feel like you have a strong argument, you might as well try it's the way I look at it.

What's the best way to navigate this situation regarding the application process as well as the lease administration?

After acquisition, we furnished it, added a couple decks for a hot tub and solo stove fire pit, as well as a ton of string lights and were off to the races!

Three and four units properties tend to be slightly more investor facing, but there are still a lot of regular buyers that pick up three and four units as well.

I feel like the builder had to have known this.

You will want enough return for the deal to support itself or you won't be able to scale well.

If the numbers make sense, which usually equates to 10% or better cash on cash and roughly 1% rent to price ratio in an area that has appreciated well recently, I don't care how far I'm away from that market, I try to buy there.