You also might want to consider remote thermostats in case one tenant wants freezing AC and the others don't.

When I return to the country after my Au Pair contract ends, I hope to live in the property as my primary residence and house-hack as well.I understand that investing remotely makes things more challenging, but I am also ready to be uncomfortable and challenge myself in this journey as I know it is 100% possible.

Walk us through a solution that doesn't involve government command and control.

With technology and the right culture property management companies can be successful with a mix of local and remote team members. 

For the mixed-use building idea, you’re right to be cautious about vacancies as a remote investor.

Since you're a citizen but you live and work abroad you'd still qualify mostly for second homes occupancy or investor non owner occupancy (primary is hard to claim if your job requires you to be physically next to the office as an example so an underwriter isnt going to readily believe you unless you can get HR to write you a letter to state you're remotely capable of earning this income/job duties anywhere).Hopefully that helps let me know if you have further questions into mortgage planning.

I'm especially interested in hearing about how you've made a PMS geared more toward STRs work with MTR billing and leasing.I do remote operations support for an MTR/LTR company in Denver and am assisting with our tech stack build out. 

While this job could be performed remotely, working with my peers in person for at least a year is important to me.

A good real estate accountant can save you thousands of dollars by leveraging entity selection and formation, tax deductions, cost segregations, bonus depreciation and tax planning.I recommend finding an accountant who specializes in real estate taxation, business taxation, financial planning and tax planning.You may want to consider working with your accountant remotely to expand your options.I would also recommend looking for a accountant willing to work with you throughout the year.

Starting with remote investing, like in Charlotte, can be an option, but it might be worth exploring local opportunities in Orange County too.