However, due to the whole area now being deemed by insurance companies as a "fire-risk" zone, I can't find a single insurance company to put a STR endorsement on a regular home owner policy up there.

I currently am living in a single family home that would rent for 1800-2000$ a month if I chose to rent it long term.

Yes you need 5 people per bedroom. 1 single person short and the Sheriff will simply leave and you have to start all over again.

I have a duplex that I originally intended to have serviced by individual heatings systems, but ended up installing a single system that's large enough to heat the whole building.

Not on 100k single family homes.

I'd only play with extra money and pull back gains as it's super volatile.And it's not investing to me.

Recently, I was debating whether to lock in the mortgage rate for a single-family home we're purchasing in December, especially with rates spiking recently, or wait until after the next Fed meeting and election to be finalized.

I would consider single family homes as well but multifamily is the ultimate goal.

I do those things using a few excel spreadsheets … what you are working on sounds super handy!

That cost would have been the same whether it was a single family home or a triplex.