Personally, I'd never buy the biggest house, or the most expensive house on the street.

I will say that if you get some ducks in a row, things like a good cleaner, handy person etc, you could manage from farther away if you find a deal or area you are interested in.

They are business credit cards which report to different agencies than your personal credit, so it wouldn't affect your personal status at all.

I have locked up one deal off the application and have offered in person on 2-3 other deals.

Quote from @David Eyal: This is actually very simple: don't get involved in personal issues.You offer them a renewal.

We took this approach because even though the house is an STR it is also one we want to use as a family a couple times per year, and we feel we have our own personality as hosts, so we were particular about what we wanted. 

I gave them a lease in person to review and sign (I gave them the lease first as they mostly speak Spanish and the lease is in English, so I wanted to give them the time to read it).

I  would look at your town regulations and see also if they have any unrelated persons ordinances and what they say about boarding houses. 

Unless there is an offer deadline, I personally think order of offers has influence on sellers.

@Braden Heard start farming & growing your personal network to find deals that you can start out wholesaling, then flipping, then buy & hold as rentals to build wealth.Per this NY Times article, the average American knows around 600 people.https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/science/the-average-american-knows-how-many-people.html#:~:text=The%20average%20American%20knows%20about,do%20you%20know%20named%20Kevin%3FPer the US Census Bureau, the average American moves 11.7 time in their life, which based upon an approximate lifespan of 84 years, works out to be about every 7 years.https://www.census.gov/topics/population/migration/guidance/calculating-migration-expectancy.html#:~:text=Using%202007%20ACS%20data%2C%20it,one%20move%20per%20single%20yearSo, if the average American knows 600 people and they each move about every 7 years, that means that the average American knows around 85 people that move in any given year.How many of those moves do you want to be involved in?