I count myself lucky it didn’t end worse than it did. 

My farm area is Wyoming and Kentwood, but I don't count out the other great areas of GR, just have a better handle on the area in Wyoming and Kentwood.

Too many local builders are cranking out 2500sqft brand new homes for 200k.I wouldn't count on any profit from the house to be blunt.

Does this count as the "2 years" so I can use that income for commercial/portfolio lending?

Let's count the reasons why.1) They are losing the home they own via a short sale.2) For some reason, though they haven't sold their home yet, they have been renting another house for the past four months. 

The unit you're looking at with those terms doesn't look attractive on any of those counts.

I can tell you from experience that sometimesa commission   can be there difference from a property being a deal (buy and hold) or have to walk away in SD in such a competitive market everything counts. 

The rentals in the area are about $1000/month so if you count the house ONLY it doesn't make sense right now but that's not what they are selling .

So after mortgage ($400), taxes ($122), ins ($40), HOA ($22), the profit is $366 not counting vacancy/repairs.I have analyzed so many deals and looked at around 60 homes in the last 2 months and it seems that in central florida, at least, the good deals are going to cash buyers as my other offers weren't accepted even after offering $10 above asking price.  

Once you've been a landlord for awhile (I think two years, but don't quote me) your bank will start letting you count 75% of your rental income towards your debt to income ratio, which will help even more.