That said, I live in Texas, and I have found that the property taxes and insurance are prohibitively high to make a short term rental work here.

For example, I live in Gilbert, AZ, which isn't exactly the cheapest place to live, so if I begin to look for a house here in AZ are the lenders going to want to see 300k-400k$ in liquid assets for me to get approval for a mortgage (as the homes in my area are around 800K-1M)? 

I just met a potential money partner who own a 4br she lives at.

You don't want to lose your rate on the house you are living in now unless you want to sell it so since that is an owner-occupied, you need to stay there and save up the 20 percent for the second property based on what you said.

After living in the property form 2019 to 2024, my wife and I moved up to Maryland for a new job.

I was interested in this type of deal because I was living in the area for another year and needed to build equity as well as dip my feet into the real estate market.

And my Dad in the 70s told me about fake lenders to.. make a living on upfront fees and never lend..

If they’re open to living elsewhere, keeping the property as a short-term rental seems like the more profitable long-term play.If you’re enjoying the self-management and the demand remains strong, I’d lean toward keeping this property as an STR and exploring ways to add another.

Even though I’m a local broker, I’m a big fan of “Live where you want to live.

The properties are often flawed and no well-suited for a family to live there long term (lot's of bedrooms, but tiny living room, no yard, no garage etc), that's why they sold for a discount an get used as STR.