However, now that it's up and running well, I spend maybe 2-3 hours when I get a new guest just going through the lease up steps and then maybe 1 hour/month after that to deal with service requests and bookkeeping.

The issue is that fix and flip and DSCR loans are business purpose loans where you are required to sign an affidavit of business purpose / non-owner occupancy saying neither you nor your relatives will live at the property.

Does the management LLC bill for it's services?  

And even then tenants get free legal services here in Los Angeles so you have to make sure that you do this right.In an ideal situation, you would buy with one of the units vacant.

Would using services like own it Detroit be a good place to start? 

After working with a lot of lenders over the years, the most important thing for me is their level of customer service (will they provide a lender letter promptly for you when you need to write an offer quickly, call the listing agent to help you get your offer accepted, pick up their phone for you, etc.) and do they close on time?

I'm leaning towards a smaller non-refundable deposit vs a full month rent that is refundable.

However, as the owner you still need to spend more than 50% of personal services and more than 750 hours on the real estate business on your own.Alternatively, short-term rentals are generally treated as active business income and therefore are eligible to offset w-2 income.Navigating the Real Estate Professional Rules"When measuring material participation, a married taxpayer is required to count any hours performed by his or her spouse, even if the spouse does not own an interest in the business or if no joint return is filed.32 While this rule is advantageous because it makes it more likely the taxpayer materially participates in the real property trade or business, it is a trap for the unwary in the real estate professional context, as discussed below in Step 3.""

Housing authorities are non profits and I know some are bigger than others.  

I would approach the mortgagor (owner) and let them know as a private and public service I am informing them that there is a problem.They appreciated the advance notice and information.