I have a larger portfolio (65+/-) units varying in size from 300sqft - 7,000 sqft and that affords me some leverage on our cleaning vendors. 

. - Buying a larger home for growing family with evidence of increase in dependents and 25% equity in current homeCheck in with @Joseph Chiofalo, he's a great friend and top lender nationwide for 20+ years.

For example if someone has owned a house for 5 years, but did NOT refinance in 2020/2021, they left thousands of dollars per year on the kitchen table, which most people will not voluntarily do if they have another choice.

Regarding not having a single point of contact, that is called the PM Setup and many larger companies, ours included, have migrated to either Team or Department setups.

In Tampa they have good infrastructure, but are you still interested in just duplexes or larger units like 10 units and up?

That is a huge rent payment for someone to live in Brighton, and that demographic does exist, but I would you would have a larger vacancy rate than a Class B asset, and what happens if that tenant loses their six figure job(s)? 

I would probably focus on a single STR (if that was the route you went) and find something of slightly higher value for a larger proportion of accelerated depreciation. 

If you are looking for a place to move yourself before beginning investing, I think you have made a great choice in choosing Virginia over Maryland or DC in terms of the local metro area.

The gap was 22.1% in the South, and much larger in the Midwest and Northeast, at 52.0% and 60.0%, respectively.

You have far more options than a larger investor.