I don't agree with your lender that you have to live in the property if you are using a conventional loan, but depends on what product they are giving you, maybe a work around for that.I would not purchase based solely on what income you can derive from STR.

Are you using a PM for your property?

Building more homes is the right idea, but will take years to implement and there are many issues to overcome: we don't even have the labor. 

So now is a good time to buy if you leverage your ability to put a good amount down and close...that is attractive to sellers that are eager to get out of their property. 

Quote from @JD Martin: Those things are true but I'm always puzzled by these kinds of posts.

@Mostafa KoperlyMSO's like DSO's look for opportunities to exploit nationwide because they are backed by PE.

I average these two numbers and use that as a baseline, adding a reasonable buffer to set the threshold.This approach helps ensure that tenants don’t feel micromanaged but also protects you from excessive utility usage.

What city in Texas are you located?

While you may be able to measure energy to some precision that you are satisfied with close to the point of delivery - what you will have a very tough time accounting for how those losses are split amongst your units.

VA and FHA loans are basically the only assumable ones in the market place.