And while short-term rentals are the big draw here, there’s also growing demand for mid-term rentals from snowbirds and traveling professionals, as well as long-term housing for the increasing number of permanent residents.Yes, higher interest rates are a factor, but the strong rental demand in the Panhandle often helps offset those costs.

The bank will make you leave 25% equity in the property - but you also still want the property to at least cash flow some - so be careful how much equity you pull out / new debt you take on.I would do a cost benefit analysis of what your actual gain is in cash-flow on buying a new property with a (currently) higher interest rate (if financing), versus just holding on to the current appreciated property and enjoying that cash flow.All the best!

These can boost property appeal and command higher rents.- Short-Term Rentals in Non-Traditional Markets: Secondary markets like Florence, Alabama, are ideal for short-term rentals.

Think about it, why do people do Airbnb........make more money, however they have higher vacancy rates, and more management required.  

Your ROI will be significantly higher in Boston real estate than in the stock market. 

.: I would go HELOC for sure that would be best as others were saying the lower cost for the money changes between paying a higher rate for a personal line and typically personal lines they want a higher monthly charge as well independent from the interest rate.  

Quote from @Devin James: Gross Margin is an important calculation for developers/builders.Gross Margin = Gross Profit / RevenueWe shoot for a 20% gross margin on our New Construction HomesReal #’s:Home Sales Price: $374KClosing Cost: $18,700Cost of Construction: $258KLand Cost: $30KGross Profit = $67K$67K/$374K = 17.9% Gross MarginCame slightly short of our goal of 20%Homes Values and Build Costs are constantly fluctuatingI wish we had a crystal ball build larger homes. average new build in our market is 2200 square feet, 4 beds, 3 baths, 2 car garage and sells for 515k. construction costs lower if design is good and find the median or average home sale price and push that up. my guess is you built too small. 347k is cheap. we target 429-479k price range in columbus ohio for single family homes and also only purchase close to urban core where premiums are 20% higher and we build smaller like 1500 sq ft where price per square foot goes up. 

Im wondering if other markets might be better, with somewhat newer houses and higher quality tenants?

Insurance is higher in the rural areas of SD due to fire danger.

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.