With 25% down conventional (full income verification) even with 2+ units rates should be healthier..I wouldn’t suggest investing on the rate so much as the quality of property and analysis.

That will vary depending upon your experience level, the quality of the property, the cash flow of the property, and the lender's appetite for that type of loan.

Property prices range slightly higher but with a lot better quality.  

I personally like LTR as a strategy since once you attract high quality tenants, it isn't that much work relative to MTR and STR strategies, but the key is you have to look for properties where you can add bedrooms, so you can do rent by room, rent to market tenants, rent to Section 8 tenants, and the more bedrooms that you have the higher rents you will get.How to do you add bedrooms? 

While some feel they have become too commercialized, others still find them useful for learning.The property listings and tools like calculators and rent estimators that can aid in analyzing potential deals.The local meetup groups that allow investors to network and connect in their area.Overall, BiggerPockets is seen as a good free resource for beginner real estate investors to learn the basics, though the quality and trustworthiness of the content is debated, especially after the company was sold.

Quality Assurance:You can personally oversee the quality of work, ensuring that all tasks meet your standards and avoiding potential shortcuts that some contractors might take.5.

Some lenders use that to udnerwrite which shows the quality of the projections. 

The Tampa Bay area continues to experience robust growth, driven by its thriving job market, world-class amenities, and unparalleled quality of life.

There are strong macro factors to include migration, job increase, and quality of life that will be bringing people into the area for years to come.

If you have more of an appetite for leverage, then I think you trade up into better quality, higher appreciation assets; however, life does not exist on a spreadsheet.