Quite the opposite - I invest my personal money as just one more member, in each investment we end up doing as a club. 

I haven’t done my first deal yet, but through hiring a local contractor to build my personal residence I had this idea that I don’t hear people talking about.

I personally don't like getting a lot of automated messages when I rent a STR, I'd rather have some more personal contact.....

You can find something in Durham and parts of Raleigh, specifically zips 27610, 27603, and parts of 27604 that would meet your criteria, however generally speaking most of the inventory that would fit what you are looking for in Raleigh or Durham would likely be in neighborhoods that I personally wouldn't want to invest in, C- to D type neighborhoods.

I am days/weeks away from trying it at my personal residence.  3500 sqft but only two people using it, so not sure how good of a test it will be. 

Personally, my favorite way of sourcing deals is building relationships with brokers and nurturing those relationships by checking in consistently.

Generally there are multiple units for each "zone" if you will when I've seen them installed.Regarding your problem at hand, I personally would simply adjust your plan to move and make your initial plan to get the current issues resolved, while costly now, in the long run holding onto the unit will likely pay off. 

(G) Acceptable forms of payment of Rent (including Additional Rent) are ___ personal check, ___ cashier’s check, ___ bank check, ___ money order, and ___ the following online/ACH payment methods ____________________.

I’m personally based in Houston, TX, and I’ve noticed over the years that a good realtor can do a lot more for an investor than just listing a property.

With respect to paying $44k off on your HELOC, I personally think that is totally fine and a great start.