That consists of buying a single family home with some form of separate living space to rent out as a STR and help offset living expenses.The DownsideLenders Calculate STR/MTR Rental Income Differently- From a lender's perspective, any rental income received on a term less than 12 months is NOT calculated the same way a traditional long term rental is.

I own rental properties in one city and two of them had insurance claims in the last 2 years due to hail and tree damage. I just purchased a rental in another state/city and am getting turned down for insurance due to...

Most states would recognize this and help you out.

Maybe I can help connect some dots. 

This may help you figure out an optimal down payment percentage that may be somewhere between the 3.5% and the 40% that could give you a higher CoC return.

BP has various tools to help you analyze your deals (rentals, flips, wholesale, etc). : https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators7.

For example, collecting three months of rent upfront helped you avoid missed rent, but even that could have backfired if they missed more than three payments.

I can't help with that.Regarding insurance, you will need a STR policy.

Hope this helps! 

Here’s where it gets wild: right before the holidays, we not only closed on the house but also helped her move into an extended stay hotel.