If you find a solid, boots on the ground realtor/PM who has experience in the flip business you should be fine. 

This has been my strategy here in NOVA as well - though true multifamily housing stock is hard to come by as you are probably already aware.

Inherited tenant really left me feeling like I should’ve bought it wmpty.

Well, this my opinion, if you like unpredictability, constant change and people/contractors with no regards to you or your property then "YES" flips and STRs are the way to go...LOL....I love it!!! 

Rumor has it that SC is trying to require state licensure for commercial lending as well.

Well, you can buy little portable washing machines that hook up to your sink- not unlike those freestanding dishwashers.

I feel like the numbers are great and I’m just missing something.  

We do well with ours in Denver and Colorado Springs, for instance.

Somewhere in the middle is likely your best bet for a 20 year timeline.I have almost 50 units here myself and that's about what my portfolio is cash flowing at this point combined LTV is around 65% as loans have gotten paid down and values have went up.

I have family in Houston, Dallas, and the Valley, I was networking with brokers in San Antonio, but the Taxes seem to be quite high as well in that State, although much favorable laws/regs on the landlord side.