We ended up buying one house to turn into a vacation rental and the two other options were one- a stand alone commercial building and two- a ground floor unit (currently occupied with a tenant for another 3 years) of a building that is in the process of being turned into condos. 

here is the situation. i left a really good paying job to take care of my 81 year old parents because my dad is chronically ill and my mom is almost there. i wont go into too much detail, but my sis doesnt help them. ill leave it at that. we have a person who comes twice a week to help with cleaning and other household tasks. i carry the bulk of the weight cooking their meals, running errands, grocery shopping, picking up meds, and taking them to dr appointments. its a full time job. i get a small salary of $1000 a month from a care giver sub contractor for the VA. ive been paying my bills with what savings ive had, but only have a few months of funds left. i own a duplex. i have over 200k in equity. i live in texas and texas has weird laws about refi and heloc/heloans when the property is 4 units or less and owner occupied. i would rather not sell, but if thats my only option i will have to at some point.does anyone have any advice or possibly be able to point me to lenders who might be able to work with my situation?

We actually keep marketing your property and accepting back up applicants until your property is actually occupied.

Does their collective business occupy one of the spaces in the building? 

Now assume each unit is occupied by 1 person.

Waco is a great rental market because there are so many blue collar jobs that provide consistent demand for housing (I have heard that 80% of homes in Waco-proper are non owner occupied) but there is a lack of white collar jobs that would keep Baylor graduates here or bring working professionals from Austin/Dallas. 

House A has a lower (but still high) wind storm deductible at 1%, while house B has a 5% deductible, and no one is occupying it as it was just closed.

If you're not present to let them in (or have the space occupied for whatever reason, etc.), they should be notifying you and you may have to face any repercussions (penalties, pauses on your permits, etc.) 

SBA requires a minimum of 51% owner occupied.  

He lived in 15th century Japan where the personal defense weapon of choice was the sword.