Two of us live in Minnesota and the third partner lives there in California.

I currently own 1 SFH rental in Texas ( I live in Nevada).

May have a claim against the sellers.Do you live in an HOA? 

I don't think it makes sense to invest in an area where property values and replacement cost start to approach or even intersect.Milwaukee is easily missunderstood by people who don't live here. 

So, the benefit of a lower interest rate is very short-lived, and I'm forever stuck with the lost equity.

@Pradeep Prabakar Ravindran Assuming you have lived in the house for at least 3 years, you have several years to take advantage of the capital gains exclusion.

Buy a duplex as a primary and live in half for a year.

The truth is, about 99.5% of lenders who offer conventional mortgages in the US won't lend to someone who isn't based in the US, even if that person is a US citizen living abroad or works for a US company.

If I want to continue to live in my primary residence AND now rent out a portion of it to a renter, am I able to do so? 

The cost of living is extremely low compared to other cities and you can still many many positive cash flowing and 1% deals here.