With that said, I kind of wish we had built as we grew a little earlier because retrofitting has been a bit of a pain. :)Best of luck.

 You may be able to secure higher leverage financing through alternative lenders than a traditional bank (not always the case) and this may help advance your objective of reducing the down payment/cash requirement but that may only be temporary relief as you will likely pay more over the course of the loan because of higher rates and fees.

It's also making is such a pain because as buyer's agents we have to call and then to just have someone say it's negotiable (it always has been, but has always been decided by the seller) and just offer what you think is right is a disaster.

Syracuse is poised to experience unprecedented growth, and though competing with other buyers is a pain right now, you have an advantage being right on the ground.

Thanks for the tips @Mindy Nicol, I do think MTR would be easier to manage for me allthough I do have time for a part time job, I see where you are coming from with repair costs and all and STR sounds like it can be a pain (I followed a few groups on facebook and have read horror stories :D ). 

Does anyone know of an income relief program in North Carolina for property owners that have short term rentals that are not renting due to hurricane impact to an area?

t go dark must be a major pain point...unless you have several other STNL’s going strong.

Then start the painful process of trying to notifying, move/store and auction off the abandoned property.I've thoroughly researched the SB1079 laws and qualify as a prospective owner/occupant since we honestly plan to use the home as our primary residence.I guess my primary question is, is there anything I seem to be missing and need to look into?

Our refusal to accept a recession is actually only making the pain much worse, and is the underpinning of a massive wealth transfer from the middle class to the rich.   

Unfortunately, appears you've gotten exactly what you deserved due to your poor screening.Hopefully, you've learned from this painful lesson.Hire a well-screened landlord-tenant attorney and evict them and sue for damages.