However, I am thinking of having my parents who are retired living there part of the year and doing STR for the remainder of the time.

He lives locally, is very responsive.

We live in San Diego so would be long-distance, TBD if we self-manage or enlist a PM. 

When parents employ their minor child, the child is exempt from Social Security and Medicare (aka FICA) - if under 18.

We live well, have a nice house which I built from the ground up and saved 200k off the top. 

Investment property (not primary residence) It's the industry standard if you're not going to live there.

This way I can see pictures of the applicant, their living conditions, people they're associated with and their job.

See the map below for where these zip codes are located.Note: The following charts only include properties in the above zip codes that generally match our property profile: single-family homes featuring 3-4 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms, 2-3 car garages, 1,100 to 2,400 square feet of living space, 1 or 2 stories, and lot sizes ranging from 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, built on or after 1985.Appreciation10-Year $/SF by Zip Code 2015-01-01 to 2024-12-31From the above charts, these zip codes appear to appreciate the fastest among our target areas (based on annualized growth rate)89032 (North Las Vegas), 11.0%89015 (Henderson), 10.4%89143 (Centennial Hills), 9.9%89031 (North Las Vegas), 9.8%89138 (Summerlin), 9.4%89141 (Blue Diamond, Southern Highlands), 9.4%89128 (Summerlin), 9.3%89123 (Silverado Ranch), 9.1%89129 (Northwest), 9.1%5-Year Pre-COVID $/SF by Zip Code 2015-01-01 to 2020-03-01The COVID market frenzy and the subsequent dramatic rate hikes significantly distorted price and rent trends.

I currently live in Michigan. 

Successful collection rate on LTR is not even 15% on top of dealing with insane lawyers and social workers who believe that less fortunate people can hurt wealthier people.