I live in Buffalo NY and have not seen much going on at this location. 

The short version is that you want a strong and diverse job market, low unemployment rates, a growing population, low vacancy rates and new development, affordability/cost of living, real estate laws and court system, good schools, and low crime.Check out the videos from Dave Meyers with BiggerPockets.

If you live in the basement then you can legally STR the top in most areas.

They've even called my mom who we don't live with anymore (but lived with at the time we applied for the loan).

Did you plan to rent this or live-in flip with the intent to sell?

I live in the Champaign area.

If your willing to do so, you can live in the casita and then rent out the main home and have your tenant pay the majority/all of the mortgage (depending on what type of deal you find obviously). 

It would also be much easier to manage considering you are currently living in Arlington.

That could mean working with an investor willing to fund the deal for a share of the profits or starting smaller with a house hack or live-in flip to build credibility, or putting sweat equity into a deal with a partner to learn and build your track record.

Raise fees on building permits, give tax credits on renovations.Suburban sprawl really hasn't been a good thing for the US.Of course, it's all about supply & demand.But, if you can figure out why more people want to live in Hazel Park (leading to teardowns & rebuilds) versus south Warren or Eastpointe (nothing happening) then you can make millions.