They should have what you’re looking for. 

Max for me will probably be $1m - $1.2m. 

You may still not want to increase the occupancy.To me, two things stand out about your post.

Forgive me for being a noob, I spent the entire weekend researching as much as I could...  

Decided to pull the trigger finally in RE investing, taking advantage of interest rates and some on hand cash.

@Kyle LipkoRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

They fail over time.Your lease will say what your tenants are responsible for ordinary use plumbing issues.

Be mindful that there are rules that the lenders want you to check off.Furthermore, there are other rules on the tax side where you want to normally be under to get the most tax benefits.The magic number in both instances is '14 days'Lenders want you to stay atleast 14 days to meet the secondary home requirement.The tax accountant normally wants you to stay less than 14 days or 10% of the days it was used as a rental to treat it as a rental and not as a personal residence.Best of luck!

Can you refinance and how. does the original owner has to sign docs to do that? 

I think tax benefits should be secondary to buying something that would work well as a STR.I would recommend you consult a tax professional to see what possible tax benefits you could receive from buying this STR.