There are many different options to house hack in MD, and I'm looking at a few options right now for another buyer.

There are Cash, Wraps, Seller Financing, Carrybacks, Contract for Deed, Lease Options and of course, FHA, VA, Conventional loans, HELOCS and commercial among other approaches.

Cross reference with employers with higher education off linkedin (use an API), and see if there's a correlation between housing prices in districts which are being gentrified, school ratings over that time period, and housing prices (in fact maybe there's another correlation between if these employers work for recently IPO'd companies and are exercising fresh options to purchase real estate).

Try to narrow down your options to the top 3-4.

Although I have knowledge and experience in my local market, I am most interested in some out-of-state options as I like those opportunities better than what I have locally but know little about where to begin evaluating those markets and the pros and cons of the different states.

It's a last chance option to bail out if their residence is a pit of despair.- Require renters insurance and ensure you are an "additional insured." 

Your budget of $600k would afford you a number of other options in the Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach markets. 

I recently came across this "FHA construction to permanent Loan" option which seems almost too good to be true, so I wanted to get some input on how this works and where I might be able to find a lender.

They have various rates to choose from but I am still looking for a bank with better options.

I think owner occupied primary home financing can be some of the most favorable terms out there, especially with the low down payment option.