I also notice that @Gregory Schwartz mentioned Huntsville in particular—I definitely think that it’s a strong market for long-term appreciation.As for your concerns about investing out of state, I think an investment strategy that is as close to passive as possible would be best.A do-it-yourself approach—where you acquire a property, place a tenant, interview a bunch of property managers, and handle maintenance yourself—is going to be pretty tough to do remotely.

.), I'd recommend that the residential units fully cash flow the loan as my experience is that mixed use properties are tougher to finance as most lenders tend to prefer one or the other and something in the middle gets more difficult.For example, and granted I don't know anything about the area/neighborhood, I would expect this property (https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/111-NW-Har...) to be easier to finance than the mixed-use property you mentioned. 

As Pat mentioned you have a lot more flexibility with home 1 because it has no mortgage and is not owner occupied.

You can find a bunch of lists that mention top amenities such as hot tub, sauna, etc.

If you do have large gains you’re allowed to combine them as mentioned above.

Since you mentioned REI Hub, I worked with REI Hub in the past and they had the same connection issues but their CEO is usually good about making quick updates to create a better user experience.That being said, there is no perfect solution out there regarding bank feed connections so I'd go with one you know and ensure the accounts are linked on a weekly basis to be confident every transaction is flowing through without interruptions.

But maybe your tenant reaching out and mentioning that they're going to be forced to file a police report for fraud could generate some traction...obviously the real objective here is to just get the seller to call you back...

Eviction headache and cost is something you definitely don't have to worry about with party #1, not to mention wear and tear.

As mentioned utilities.  

You already mentioned Mid term, which can be a great way to increase cash flow.