I fell in love with the fact that I could be a huge asset to my community by creating more affordable housing opportunities and that is what drives me to continue on with this career path.

My lender stated that once the first refi was done and the home leased, they'll be able to continue onto the second.

Would you keep it and continue to purchase the house? 

I'd also throw out that our STR's earn between 2-3 times what a long term lease would bring in; so playing devil's advocate to your original post—getting your systems in place to manage it as a STR now could actually move you closer to your goal of getting away from full-time W2 income.

The Neuse and Pamlico rivers, along with everything that feeds into them, have risen and will continue to rise substantially due to Florence. 

My main deal breaker is a wholesaler that continually brings me deals that are not close to a deal in regards to the price.  

I'm working in West Tx and would love to meetup with someone who has been playing in the Lubbock area real estate game.

What I mean by that is continuing to feed the pot with a bad hand using the rationalization you have a lot of chips in there already that you would lose if you folded...and that would be completely wrong.Poker is a lot like REI in this regard. 

The property type you’re looking at will play a factor.

You can certainly buy at a 4 cap and get it up if there is a value add play in the deal.