Quote from @Donald Hatter: Pros:- Builders have many homes to sell at one time so it is easier to negotiate a better deal than with a home owner in the same neighborhood who is trying to sell their primary residence - Buyers bust out of deals all the time and builders don't like holding completed homes- Lower maintenance which leads to easier property management expenses.  

Ramsha - most of the regulation for a STR is controlled by the neighborhood HOA.

Borrowers can acquire a primary residence from up to 1-4 units for as low as 5% with conventional, as the regulation was approved last year of November 2023.

Maybe your situation is different and if you don’t feel comfortable in the neighborhood then this may be a moot point anyway.As for FHA, my understanding is that you must intend to live in the house for a year  it sounds like you did intend to, but due to unexpected circumstances- lead exposure and unexpected unsafe neighborhood- you have to move.

Quote from @Elizabeth Rose: @Josh Bowser this tip of doing a quick search on county GIS or software to see if homes in a neighborhood are owned in personal names or LLCs is gold, thank you!

I want to say its like a C neighborhood (not sure if there's an actual site that'll tell you more accurately).He already has a team in place and I'm pretty much just taking over his property and its pretty stable.

Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years.

How did you decide which neighborhood/street/zip code to start with?

In February of 2022 we purchased a newly renovated 3 unit building in the South Austin neighborhood of Chicago.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that your chances of success are very low.