Being 1.5hrs of NYC gives you a lot of options, even Long Island (which typically has more options for public commute into NYC).Give me a shout if you'd like to chat more, I have a handful of case studies on my site as well from deals I've closed/brokered that match the househacking criteria you're aiming for. 

We under contract right before thanksgiving, which I think helped give us the upper hand in negotiations.

I went with my local for a better CS and hands-on of my account(s).

On the other hand, I feel one of the main advantages of passive investments (via syndication/crowdfunding) is that I can hire a manager who has years more experience than I can ever hope to obtain myself.

I am a Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker in Colorado who has been reading everything I can get my hands on as well as running through scenarios with my employing broker.

The one issue I think I’ll have on my hands is I prefer to house hack again in the same town (appreciation seems to be great along with rental amounts) but I’ll need to refinance my current house hack into a conventional which I doubt is at 20% equity yet since I don’t think I’ll have a valid excuse to have two owner occupied loans in the same town.

Solera on the other hand can accept mobile deposit of up to  $1Million!

My focus is mostly on land banking, a convenience store, and, more recently, providing judicial services for a select handful of foreign investors.

I can't speak for Methods #1 and #2, but there are TONS of older landlords out there (like my boss) who are at a point in their life where, while they're NOT READY TO SELL, they'd love to find someone else to hand over the reigns. 

Very telling and unfortunate.I am not knocking those who have grit and are trying to better themselves, I am knocking the exact opposite, those with no grit and are just trying to waste peoples time as they live in a fantasy world where they want everything to be handed to them on what to do and have this happen also when they have no money.