Since you've had two water claims in a short period, it may impact your ability to get reasonably-priced insurance.

We put $2k in it and have rented it with 99.99% occupancy since then at $850/month.I have also done HUD flips that netted just under 100% ROI in a very short period of time.One other thing to consider is that HUD is looking at their own net and the agent commission has a major impact on their net.

AS long as you have PCF, you could have 25% interest, and if your DP didn't change, your cost would remain limited to the DP.The correct way to look at all of this isn't "what does a property cost me to own", but rather "what does a property cost me to control".Now, the interest rate DOES impact the CF, but as you've already noted it would take 42+ months just to break even. 

I would look at Impact housing REIT II, MOgul REIT II, Medalist diversified REIT and Fundrise eFunds (West Coast, heartland, East Coast).

How will this purchase impact your financial future 5, 10, 20 years from now?  

At some point in there, you may be able to refinance into a permanently lower rate.

I’m considering a property, and want to understand what all is impacted by the decision to str vs ltr it

There are many investors in this forum, including myself, who are successfully using overfunded permanent life insurances in our investment flow.

If you're really doing a mechanic in a dirt floor garage, I would be tempted to do a much higher deposit due to the potential environmental impact you would have to deal with.Hope that makes sense.

Inflation one says, let’s not forget inflation impacts expenses too.Yes one can increase NOI in a variety of ways.But let’s look at what it will actually take to triple NOI in five years.Let’s assume a 50% operating expense ratio.$100,000 gross rent $50,000 expenses yields $50,000 net operating income.To get to $150,000 net operating income, rents need to double to $200,000 and expenses need to remain fixed at $50,000.