If they choose to enforce it and someone argues I was only selling a contract, but they advertised the property it will likely not fare well for them to fight the law makers who enacted this law.There are ways around this.

However, people choose to make their lives 'busy'. 

ya maybe being able to choose your own tenant and disregard discrimination laws for race religion sex disability because you owner occ one of the units.. falls under something different but it is federal law.. unless prohibited by state county or city.. the owner of a 1 to 4 unit who lives in one of the units does not have to follow the selection rules..

A lot of people choose the more suburban / less dense areas in Ewing or Hamilton when they can find a place that works for them.

Personally, I'd pick a tenant friendly state and choose states that don't have barriers to entry (insurance, financing, weather, etc).

The beauty here is you don't have to necessarily choose which strategy you are embarking on for the first process of these strategies (buying a property in need of rehab and doing the renovations) - the best investors typically will have multiple exit strategies and can make unemotional decisions once the property is completed whichever way the numbers point to (flipping or keeping and renting/refinancing i.e.

If you choose to use them let me know how it goes.

If you choose to spend them in paying down the loan, that is up to you. 

Let a future buyer deal with the mini split an electrical panel upgrade if they choose too.   

You don't have to sign for their exclusive services