I have learned that in today's world of information you do not need to limit your investment to just markets you live in or normally travel to. 

Quote from @Ben Trageser: If you live in your short-term rental (STR) property in a future year after claiming depreciation, depreciation recapture does not occur immediately.

You can't rent out a PO box and live there.And yea that sounds like a huge red flag to me. 

I live in Upstate New York but i was thinking of areas more out west or down south.

You can also contact a local alcoholics anonymous or other organizations and let them know you have space available for anyone living sober.

If you are comfortable living with roommates, a SFH househack could be the move for you.

Even if the rental has a decent cash flow with additional flood insurance, we're still not sure we want to take on that risk as we are out-of-state investors (planning to move back to KY in the future, but not now) and we don't like that it will potentially bring down the perceived value when we try to sell it in the future.The seller has never lived there and has not provided any information on if it has flooded before or not. 

This is where you live in one side.

Selling may trigger capital gains tax, but if you lived there for two of the last five years, you may qualify for a Section 121 exclusion.

My plan is to sell my primary home in New York and purchase a house to live in South Carolina.