They aren't marketing "invest in this deal", they are marketing their company, their track record, their newsletter, their podcast, etc.  

If you aren't going to be able to do that because there is a pending lease then those loan options aren't appropriate because you are buying an investment not a primary residence at that point.

You'll be renting to college students who (no offense) aren't always the most gentle tenants.

I am guessing you don't have tons of capital, so you aren't really "protecting" anything with and LLC and all of that stuff. 

Traveling medical professionals generally don’t need 3 BR homes and they aren’t traveling as much as previous years so make sure there’s enough demand. 

If they aren't using a professional machine, odds are high that they'll leave water in the pad, causing the place to smell like mildew after a few days.

They all lead to a significant negative monthly return due to one or more of the following reasons:1) Asking Price is too high2) Traditional loan rates (FHA and Fannie Mae) are too high and affect total debt payment3) Existing rents are too low, so loan underwriters won't approve.4) Market Rents aren't high enough5) I would like to use the minimum down payment with FHA (3.5%) or Fannie Mae (5%).So, from all of these attempts, my understanding is the only way to make a house hack work in this region where I would at least breakeven on a monthly basis, is to purchase at a significantly lower price, lock in a nice creative deal or bring up my down payment to at least 20%.

I see a lot of investors tear a deal down to the studs when they just need a cosmetic rehab, and then they are underwater on the deal and aren't able to exit without losing a significant chunk of money.

That's because most appraisers aren't actually looking to determine a real value for the property, but rather just looking for justification of the already agreed upon purchase price.

You shouldn’t ever have to visit the property if you aren’t self managing it.