Of you can relocate and house hack, I highly recommend that so you give up less cash upfront.Good job not spending your stack on some bad *** pick em up truck or other nonsense young people would otherwise spend it on! 

And realistically i would only like to put 20k-50k down so i can have some cushion if i want to force appreciation with little renevations plus relocation costs. 

The bigger companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc, use RMC's to handle their relocations and they are very very difficult to pierce.

Most of my travel nurse / medical professional bookings have come from Furnished Finder but the other sites usually appeal to other tenant types like digital nomads, relocating families, etc.  

We also offered to help them find new housing, relocate them for free and help in any other way we could.

This could be an opportunity to add value by offering to help with clearing or relocating those items as part of any potential agreement.Why This Could Be a Good Move for YouYou see long-term potential in the property, especially with the large lot and development possibilities (even if those are years down the line).As the current tenants, you have the advantage of a direct relationship with the landlord and familiarity with the property, reducing competition and risk.This could be a chance to lock in a property that you might otherwise lose if it hit the open market, especially in today’s competitive environment.Challenges to ConsiderIf the landlord is emotionally tied to the property or reliant on rental income, they may be reluctant to sell.Financing could be tricky, especially with today’s interest rates and the gap between the current rent and what a conventional loan might cost.The development potential you’re interested in is likely a long-term play, which means the property could be financially tight in the short term, especially if you’re only breaking even or slightly negative on cash flow.Structuring a Potential DealTo make this feasible, you’ll likely need to explore creative financing options that align with both your financial capacity and the landlord’s goals.Seller Financing: Propose a deal where the landlord acts as the lender, allowing you to make monthly payments directly to them.

If they're like the other relocation companies, you can ask to background check the tenants.

I am leaning towards investing in the area where I will be relocating to.

If you're dealing with relocations, you shouldn't have any problem getting the tenant to put the utilities in their name as these are typically longer contracts.

We'll have to connect when I'm in town one of these times or once we relocate there in April.