Shayan,Best option to avoid issues and stay risk free along with having a better approval chance would be to go with a Cash out refinance.

If you're just getting started, stay local.

Short term it is difficult to make the numbers work, the cost of new construction and the time it takes to zone-plan-build are usually the main reasons why private investors stay clear.

Many people get bored after a week or two and won't want to stay longer as there are hardly any cities and not much happening and there's so much jungle you can look at in a day (it's a great place for quiet retirees).

The ARV was believed to be around $235k so my agent told me to try to stay all in around $176K.

@Marc Shin ask every guest that stays with you for a 5 star review after their stay.

We get a condo rental in Oceanside typically, and stay for 2 weeks. 

Check Furnished Finder, Zillow, as well as AirBnb and VRBO (30+ day stays) to see what sort of competition is in that specific market.

I decided to stay local with my investing for now and focus on condos/townhomes or live in flips.

You don't always have to incentivize a tenant with a discount to get the tenant to stay, nor keep rents stagnant, but it is good to be aware of the business impact with respect to cost too.