Hi, my wife (we live in Upstate NY) and I are planning to purchase a STR this year with the plan to rent it for most of the year, and vacation 1-2 weeks there ourselves.  

You can do a lot of the projections you're talking about in financial planning software, like estimating RMDs. 

When do you plan to pull your cash out and do a cash-out refinance/do you ever intend to do this?

It sounds like you've outlined a comprehensive plan for getting started in real estate investing with $55k.

I plan to live in the ADU and rent out the main house.

The issues get a little deeper, but the key takeaway is that careful planning is very, very important.  

On paper, the plan here is that you get some rent from Section 8 directly and some from the tenant.Are you still getting any rent from section 8 ?   

I was planning on focusing on small multifamily properties (duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes), but I'd be interested in hearing people's' thoughts on the best investment type for the area.Thank you for your time.

Each investor who evaluates your deal will have their own plans for it in terms of rehab & contractor pricing.

As for the rodents, call a company and have them come out and deal with it...take photos before and after so if the tenant does something (ie puts out more rice), you can show that the tenant is deliberately doing things to attract rodents. ya we planning to call the health inspec saying the fridge is their to use but if they make it dirty and smelly we cant control that and its their responsibility.