Honestly if you are doing STR I would suggest doing Austin itself rather than all the way out there in Kyle - maybe a couple of years ago when the prices were through the roof in Austin city itself this would be a good alternative but there is a blip right now where you can get a god entry point in Austin (downtown/east ideally) for STR

Go to a couple of real estate investor meetups and make connections.

I have sold a couple to investors and some to occupants and can't say I have anything to complain about. 

From tax stand point I would think you can separate from primary and be okay with IRS being that IRS will not be local code enforcement.  

I work with a lot of househackers and they're typically on the 12 month cycle, rinse and repeat.While the proposition of acquiring an investment property outside of your market in a "landlord friendly" state may sound appealing, i would recommend you stay local for now and househack another couple of properties over the next few years until you've got some more time / experience under your belt.you would need a management company to cover your property that is outside of your market which would not only take 8-10% of your gross it would also leave you a bit vulnerable to a property management company that you A.)know nothing about and B.)you won't have the experience or cashflow or proximity to deal with any headaches that may arise.i would recommend staying local and househacking your way along for now and then maybe hire a local property management company initially to work with your current/local properties to get a taste of what to expect if and when you begin investing outside of your market.

The city also confirms if the utilities have capacity which they do.Its a simple case of NIMBYs having a huge voice in this jurisdiction. you are doing everything right. just file a couple lawsuits get a good lawyer and keep going. 

Think I am going to start a separate thread.

Send me a PM and I'll send you a couple of examples of what is on the market outside of Atlanta so you can run your numbers and see if that fits.

I also hold a couple of real estate forums in the area for people like yourselves to connect with service providers, GC's, etc. 

I've had to use Craigslist a couple times in a pinch because I didn't know anyone local and needed pictures asap.