You are in a good spot with your background and skills, but you are putting too much pressure on making it your full-time job now so you sound like you are rushing.

There is insufficient housing growth to accommodate all the new residents, so they are competing for the available housing.What is bringing so many people to Las Vegas?

LTR is more plausible but often HOA requires primary residence for a period of time before renting it.  

@Scott Trench introduced himself to my wife as Scott a BP employee (was he trying to be modest or be incognito).

When you do any agency loan (conventional or government) as a Primary Residence, you are signing a new 1 year "occupancy clause".

It’s currently a single lot and contains my family and I’s primary residence which we have about $250k of equity in.

You would be violating the law for doing that.Be comforted that most prospective residents don't provide proper ESA documentation. 

- Lots of Equipment (R&D Facilities, Car Washes)- Gas Stations (100% 15 year properties)- Movable walls (self storage)You can find anywhere from 15-35% of the purchase price of a typical apartment complex is this type of property.More of it means less tax for you from higher depreciation amounts!

They pressured us not to make loans to investors and, all the banks I worked for, were really tight on their investor lending to the point that they only did it for strong clients that might do a deal on the side.

I am a new investor to real estate, residing in Southern Maryland.