In short, if you’re comfortable relocating one of the sides to move in, and comfortable to live in the place, than just do it.

It all comes down to your comfort with risk and how fast you want to grow.

I'm more comfortable working within those parameters than others. 

You should screen everyone the same, but still, it's a bit of a comfort knowing FF is mostly all working professionals.

I'd also recommend joining a local Indianapolis based REIA asap. the REIA will provide a group of investors who could get you some contractor recommends if you decide to GC the prop yourself.You said it "needs a little work done" but budgeted $50k so those two things kind of contradict unless the home is a larger home...just curious, what's "a little work", if you haven't had an inspection yet and don't feel comfortable evaluating the costs on your own?

Maybe your situation is different and if you don’t feel comfortable in the neighborhood then this may be a moot point anyway.As for FHA, my understanding is that you must intend to live in the house for a year  it sounds like you did intend to, but due to unexpected circumstances- lead exposure and unexpected unsafe neighborhood- you have to move.

Ensure the STR’s projected income comfortably covers new debt, even with conservative occupancy rates, and maintain reserves for market changes or vacancies.

Although I am outside of my comfort zone and feel like an absolute tool (I'm lost and that's uncomfortable), my faith, drive, and want to achieve my family and life goals continues to motivate me to get outside of my comfort zone and push for continuous improvement.  

@Lisa Eisenhauer thank you for your detailed response Lisa.my hesitancy with titan is that they are a nigerian bank. and my hesitancy with solera is that the are pretty new small bank. given how small banks that have failed in the past, i feel more comfortable with going with someone like chase. here is list from fdic of recent failures: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/fai...however, since i ran into problems with chase based on what i described in this post:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/1150830-bank-...i wanted to know  who i can go with. so i called solera, firstly the person who picked up transferred me to an IRA LLC bank specialist. when my call go transferred, the specialist was i guess working from home and had a crying baby i could hear. that was my first uncomfortable momemt. i don't accept that from a bank. maybe a small retail company or something.secondly, i asked her if you know how an ira llc bank account is set up and i want to make sure it's set up correctly so i have some questions i'd like to understand your process. she right away asked me who is my document provider. and i was like, what is a document provider. she asked who set up your llc and i told her i did that. she said well we usually work with document provider because it's not a typical llc and is set up differently.i assured that the my llc is not an issue, i do  have that set up properly. it is manager managed. i am the manager. my ira is the 100% owner/member of it. then she assumed that my ira is with solera. and i told no, i have it at another custodian, all i want to do at solera is to set up a bank account. and what i want to know is when you open an account at your end, in the bank account who do you put as the owner of llc. she told me well it's a business account that llc owns. and you will be the manager on the account.and i told her, yes, i already know that and that's how it is currently set up at chase. the issue i am asking about is who will be listed as the owner of the llc at your end on the bank acct.. it should be "xyz custodian fbo shaz...IRA" and it should NOT be me. she goes. llc will be the bank owner.i think i had to repeat 3 times that i am  not asking whether or not bank accout will be under llc. i am asking in filling out your paperwork for opening the bank account, does it anywhere ask who is the owner of the llc and if so, who will you put. she goes, oh we dont' mention that anywhere but if you did have your ira with us then we will have "solera bank ..custodian fbo shaz...IRA". 

I'd consider doing some kind of cash out refi on the property at a number you're both comfortable pulling out, while still leaving $ for reserves to maintain the STR you currently have.