The less risky/more logical avenue seems to be to LTR one unit for more predictable cash flow and STR the other unit to create availability for my relatives when they come to visit.

It seems logical that he would take the fiduciary responsibility for holding the year's rent vs passing that fiduciary responsibility onto you.

Same logic with people who sell their house seller-finance to someone a bank won't approve?

Logic would say that the Listing Broker would dominate the manually accepted bids as they would have the knowledge to bid $1 more-When listing agent contact me with their courtesy call, the most often response is 'I had no idea HUD would sell it for that price" Again, seems contrary to your information-Gordan, you also stated the not all listing contracts are negotiated the same. 

It defies logic that the lender would not have a firm date by which they must be repaid.

@Mark Forest if you knew your data, then you'd also know that Detroit is using the US Census Bureau over several of its antiquated & mistakenly applied practices that have not properly recognized Detroit's growth over the last 5-6 years.Not even going to bother copying an article link here for your benefit as your head is buried too deep in the sand for any logical info to reach you.I'm sure you're successful wherever you're investing.

Do not kid yourself as when you sign with a management company you sign a business partnership.Eventually I do not want to manage my properties and I will look for a manager who can get better returns than me, maintains properties and has fair terms on the partnership (charge a fee share the fee except logical fees like cleaning fees).

I don't how much my property taxes will increase on these properties, can't see any logical pattern (confirmed with other Indy investors I talked to).

id like to know where the logic comes from saying there is more cashflow on SFR than MF.. 

@Jerry Padilla Idk about this logic, I mean timeshares typically feature a lot of properties in sunny places and sexy beach locales, so I could easily see how the Poconos would be further down on the timeshare totem pole.