I don't agree with your lender that you have to live in the property if you are using a conventional loan, but depends on what product they are giving you, maybe a work around for that.I would not purchase based solely on what income you can derive from STR.

These self employed 2nd mtg's are typically based on alternative method of caluclation like profit and loss statements if you're self employed or the last 12 months of bank statement deposits using a formula to derive an income from these deposits (like 50% of all annual rolling 12 calendar month deposits X 50% /12 months = monthly income).

Its more like 98/2 with an additional 5% saying they do stuff so they can get a piece of someone else's hard work while they have not done anything and live in their mom's basement.All that said there is value well over the cost for those who apply themselves to deriving the value. 

It's possible with derivatives and hedges to reduce losses and volatility. 

Ultimately, what drives real estate values is supply and demand and the income you can derive from those properties.

This is derived from the amount of equity we can contribute as the sponsor and the amount of equity we know we can comfortably raise in a 90/10 structure.

Appraisers are not going to add value for something that is financed or leased, and if you're the only house in the radius of comps with paid off solar they won't have any comparisons to derive value from it.In the end it is really only advisable to pursue if you're going to own the home forever....while it is nearly impossible to determine if you'll own forever or not regardless of present circumstances.  

I first want to emphasize to real estate investors, the difference between the tax treatment of rental income derived from an active trade or business compared to investments.

It's an asset, although you may not derive any yield from it.

most insurance carriers are middle men who broker a connection to a construction policy carrier and add 10% on top for themselves. the key is to find an insurance broker that the construction policy company pays to derive business for them so you get your policy at cost and will help shop with multiple providers to get you the most competitive terms