With a budget of $300K-$400K, you could potentially find single-family homes or small multi-units in those areas.I'd recommend researching rental demand near universities like Duke or NC State or even checking out neighborhoods with strong job growth near tech hubs.

I recommend you make a video of you entering the unit and documenting exactly how it is found.

Hi @Brian WongI can provide some ADU contractor recommendations in Los Angeles if you want to DM me. 

One workaround could be keeping a separate spreadsheet to track your adjusted tax basis accurately and only using Stessa for operational insights.You could also reach out to a cpa and see if they have a specific recommendation for software to use.  

@Colin Ford recommend getting experience with your RI duplex before going OOS.You should DIY manage the unit next door, so you LEARN about property management, the goog, the bad and the ugly.Then you'll be so much better prepared to invest OOS!

If you need to stay in DC for employment than I would recommend house hacking something, although I'm not sure how far 50k will take you there.

Here are my recommendations:1) Check with your insurance broker first. 

We estimate the project will take less than 3 months to complete.I’m exploring alternative short-term financing solutions and would appreciate any advice or recommendations on options that might work well for this type of project.Thank you in advance for your insights and assistance!

@Anthony Saheed I would advise you to be very careful to recommend people to speculate in volatile real estate markets.

Recommend you do several tranches versus one big policy.