The cost per sf skyrockets as house size decreases. 

You can find higher ROI (on paper) here and probably in other cities…but the probability of actually collecting rent significantly decreases.

On paper the cheap houses look great, but the reality is they are harder to manage, have higher turn over and cost a lot more time and money.Buying before you retire is a good idea because once you retire, your ability to borrow money is going to decrease as you don't have a regular income from a job.As you want to fix houses up, why not buy a house that needs a bit of work, live in it while doing the renos and then move when you sell it. 

Currently rates on commercial are going up and not down with Fed rate decreases.  

I would benefit from this program because it would decrease my 1:30-2 hours commute down to under 30 minutes.

The result could be limited, no rent growth or even rent decreases.

The interest is so much in the beginning, because the balance is so high, the interest decreases because the balance decreases.

Alas, this scenario didn't last very long, as you would expect in a free market capitalist society -- new money flood in, more STRs in supply, property prices increase, STR incomes decrease, until a new equilibrium is achieved.Nowadays, the word STR is being used to describe both the property and the business.

There are times when the market increases or decreases rapidly.

I'm definitely still looking at it, but one concern is the population growth, it seems to be decreasing slightly?