You have to value your time, leverage your skills, and execute a long or short term play. 

In your experience, do you find that it's possible to cashflow or at least break even with these properties and today's prices/rates?

So I used to work for a basketball tournament that played in Washington IL every year and so I often visited that town plus Peoria.

I will take this into consideration and if possible I'll visit whenever I can.Also, thanks for the connection with Elenis, I will reach out and maybe we will work together.Do you have properties in the area?

If it's a long-term play, the potential savings on PMI with a conventional loan could be significant.Have you compared rates for both options?

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible but I am at a cross road in life here and can’t seem to find the guidance I need. 

I personally like to buy in towns/neighborhoods in which no new builds are possible within 10 miles because all the land is developed.

I tried to get a refund but was told that was not possible.

Possibly already permitted outbuildings that already have plumbing such as workshops, offices, etc might be able to be converted to an ADU at a cost that does not result in the cost being more than the value added.Building an ADU is a lot of work and can be a slow process.  

Which is not easy for possible for many people (like your husband).Once you really know what to do, the risk level drastically reduces.