Our median price home is much lower than Austin.

Research landlord-friendly states with lower property prices and strong rental demand, like Texas or the Midwest.

I am doing my best to accommodate and fix the insulation as well as see if there are programs in place to lower the cost. however i want to be firm with tenant as they are not compliant with paying rent because of the cost of the utilities.

My clients can "force appreciate" the value of the property by doing a quality rehab for a lower than market cost because they are very good at spotting "diamonds in the rough".

Which you want to lower?

For further context, we are trying to have him be the name on the loan because he would be able to utilize his first time home buyer loan to take advantage of the lowered offered interest rate.

of those I like next door best because it is hard to fake and the reviews are easily tied to a reviewer in your community.The costs of ADUs vary significantly for various reasons including by ground up vs conversion, difficulty with lot (sloes, access, etc), finishes, and even the size (bigger typically have lower PSF).Good luck

You want lower land cost with high rental demand unless you're a reno expert and flipper which not 1% of real investors are. 

A lot of local banks tend to have 1-3 year intro periods of lower interest rates for HELOCs, check with some yours. 

Secondary markets like Greensboro, Winston, and Fayetteville will likely still be under the 1% rule, but our property taxes are lower than most northern states so the CoC (which is what you should be as/more concerned about) return will be favorable.