And personally, I stay away from OH because it's what herd think has long been and I worry how much of price is based on herd-actions or market metrics. 

This is anecdotal, but I come across of ton of GCs looking for spec-build financing in local meetups and networking groups, such as on facebook on in person meetups. 

Hi Randall-Congratulations on buying a rental property well back in 2020.I am sorry to hear the property is now cashflow negative $200 a month.Your question is should you sell or continue to keep it with the negative cashflow.Depends on your personal goals and if being negative $200 a month plus any unexpected repairs or vacancies is affordable to you, but if you can solve the negative cashflow by turning the property into a furnished mid-term rental, for example, your future self may thank you.To Your Success!

The financing arrangement must be at arms-length and cannot involve a disqualified person (e.g., you, your spouse, family members, or certain business entities tied to you).

Personally I think it's great as I was already doing this (I do not work for free) and now my competition has to as well.  

Doesn't seem to be a lot of options around here for that though3) Continuing to rent where we live, and buy a separate property to rent outI personally feel like having my brother to help out as a renter is a huge advantage.

Will be a better question for your CPA in my opinion, they'll have better visibility into what strategy will work best before filing season and EOY. 

That is super strange on the xls file!

I don't know, that's a personal preference.

She was also the “boots on the ground” person which allowed me to work remotely and be with my baby.