Typically, furnished rentals are for shorter term stays, so the tenant is most likely going to be able to deal with whatever your style is.Should be able to command much higher rent depending on the area for a furnished rental - minimum of 50% more than LTR.One option could be to lease the house and sell / lease the furniture in a separate bill of sale / contract.

With a family and kids the best house hack is a house and cottage or duplex option.

I have saved up some money but my goal is to save up at least 20k in a year before I start looking for options on house hacking in a duplex.

I've done some digging on Batchleads, it seems to be the best option for skip tracing.A realtor friend warned me about the consistent "No's" I'll eat before i get my first deal.

What is the standard option and earnest money in your area?  

If they don't pay willingly, what are my options? 

Using a Whole Life Insurance (WLI) loan avoids banks but accrues interest, potentially reducing policy benefits—compare this with other financing options like HELOC or seller financing.

i did this early in my career and it was helpful.another option would be to build your own working group / beginner mastermind of people in your same position. 

It's a great option for the right investor at the right time in their lives.  

I would suggest setting "instabook" to "off", allowing one of the more flexible cancelation options, and having a minimum stay in line with your local ordinances.