I have had a long term interest in purchasing an investment property and I'm looking to be smarter about this.

Creative financing: Explore seller financing or subject-to deals for your next property, which often require less upfront cash and bypass traditional lending limits.You’re on the right track thinking long-term—house hacking and leveraging your duplex are great moves.

I just rented to someone with a prior eviction on their record Their story lines up with the paperwork I have available (it was more of a dispute with an HOA nosey Nancy, and their former roommate, than a tenant violation of terms - settled on agreement instead of a full eviction, and the problem roommate is no longer in the picture).

Their fees and interest rates were high, but they had the least restrictive approval terms from what I gathered.

Financing and Complexity: An LLC can make financing more challenging and expensive since banks often offer better terms on personal loans for real estate than LLC-held properties.

You're going to have other trade offs like higher interest rates, shorter loan terms (like 3 or 5 years) and maybe more lending fees. 

What’s not working right now is traditional long-term rentals—high interest rates have crushed a lot of those deals.

2) The minimum hours required are 750 hrs, but if running a short term rental, 100 hrs is supposed to be adequate, is that still true ?

They may cost more upfront, and require more work, but you'll see higher returns long term.

And then go back to the broker/lender once you are serious or have it under contract about the deal for exact rates and terms