Doesn't cause trouble for you/neighbors/city/police.That's pretty much the sum of it.

A more viable approach could be a straight 75% cash-out refinance—but only if you’ve invested in a city with strong, sustained population growth.

I can’t imagine what kind of things the city ask for turning silo into a house haha

Like @Collin Hays said, it is being driven more by neighbors tired of poor STR owners not keeping things sorted.We only look for places in vacation areas with a long history of owner driven STRs vs big cities and the like.

Once you know how the land is allowed to be used by City or County zoning, start working to a "highest and best use" mindset where you find out how the deal can be quickly turned into money by the end user.

I have referred a loan out of state based on NOI, cap rate at purchase, room for increase income and purchase price vs market value.Maybe I didn’t articulate the intent of the post as clearly as I hopedFor anyone who has bought multi family out of state, “what are gives you the warm and fuzzies about a deal”:Obviously not cap rate, but maybe vacancy rate,  Cash on Cash ,GRM, IRR, Unlevered free cash flow, Cities over 250k?

Out of your list, I suggest the Northern and Western cities you listed (Conroe, Montgomery, and Katy).

To give you an idea of how we approach it, we assume the worst-case scenario right from the start is 9-12 months of no rent, $5,000 in legal fees, and an additional $5,000 in expenses to deal with moving their stuff, putting it in storage, and dealing with health code violations or NOV's from the city during the process. 

We are looking to buy a condo in Chicago as the new rental, for a variety of reasons, but most importantly because it would rent better in the city, and it fits our desired price point (so we can allow for the rest of $$ from the sale for paying off their Oregon home and pay all, or some of the taxes on the boot). 

Having lived in IN for 8 years before moving to Austin TX, I believe this city offers great opportunity now and much potential.