Hi Nicholas,if I invest out of state, I will probably have a property management company manage the property for me.

Last year, the city required a bank statement, which was not overly difficult for me to produce; however, this year the city of Chicago required either a homeowners exemption or a state license showing the exact address and unit for the listed AirBnB. 

I spend half my days reporting them to NY state for fraud

Whichever is most beneficial for the state you're in. 

I think identifying these markets that have a history of vacation rentals (so STR regulations are not worried about), near State or Regional Attractions (alot of national attractions may be priced out but not all), while also being affordable for the average STR investor.

If Indy has direct options and Knoxville is connecting, that would be another check in the Indy box, assuming friends would actually be helpful.But as others have stated, BRRRs are basically buying a flip and turning into a long-term rental.

This would be the agent representing both sides, this happens a lot (state/local boards and broker has to support this).

Only one bank account needed, but you'd have to track income & expenses to do transfer and year-end accounting.As @Nathan Gesner mentioned, not really worth it.You two could also open a joint bank account for collecting rent and pay expenses, just be sure to track everything.Do NOT do what @Paul De Luca stated about transferring title!

4: I'm pretty confident the house is vacant, according to my research the owners both live and work in the same town in a different part of the state.

This is pertaining to state of Florida.