I bet they wait until January or February so they don’t have to pay the tax on those gains for another year (which is why we may be seeing less selling this month than in a normal cycle).

I'm willing to bet that there are more instances of contractors burning investors than the other way around.

I bet it looks very amateurish.

If your goal is to offset your mortgage with a house hack then Lowell would be a good bet, but if you're looking for a longer term appreciation play then the areas closer to the city would be better, although the offset from cashflow may be lower than what you're looking for.A good step for you would be to dig into specific areas more as @Lien Vuong noted above.

But I agree, seller's best bet is to buy using a conventional loan if they can qualify. 

I have 21 units and have recently formed a Series LLC for all 21 units. That has gone smoothly with the exception of one unit that I have my disabled brother living in. I have placed 50% ownership of that one unit in ...

I’m betting on it.  

Would 3 months be too soon, or 6 month is on the safer side?

Best bet is likely (not absolute - everyone's situation is different) is to look at a national lender or broker that has options in lots of states - its a great development versus 20 odd years ago, with technology, internet, places like this - can have access to many more options than before (local broker or lender thats it)

You can bet on that.3.