I've purchased properties before as a residence, that were in negative cash flow initially, which are doing great now.

Do you still need to use a third party Qualified Intermediary ?  

The home is in the Sacramento area and closer to the rest of my family and he would sell it to me for a little under market value.Looking at my options, I could keep the Stockton home and rent it, along with having a new primary residence in the Sacramento area. 

On the flip side, another client of mine used the premium option and got a highly qualified tenant almost immediately.

Additionally, you'll have business income showing up and might qualify for some business lines of credit to tap into as well.

Thank you everyone @Ashish Acharya @John Bowens   @Gino Barbaro  @Jacqueline WrightWe'll be staying out of our Traditional and Roth IRAs then for this.And we aren't ready for and aren't qualified for a self directed IRA at this time, so we'll not go that route.The loan out of the 401K is interesting. 

Curious if anyone has had success (or failure) qualifying for RE Professional status with an STR, even if not self managing?

Down payment can be higher than primary, but the good thing is that you won't need that much income to qualify because lenders can you 75% of the market rents for the units of the property.

I would hate to be a resident and have issues every summer. 

The key is to allocate expenses proportionally between your primary residence and the rental units.