My CPA advised me that S-Corp’s are not ideal for real estate.

I'm thinking a med student in a 3 year residency would be ideal. 

Because the zoning allows for a business or short-term rental and the location is ideal for both.

The ball's in their court - not yours.Of course, judging by the summary and their e-mail, if they do decide to stay and pay the new rent expect them to call you every month to fix every little thing. 

Our ideal property is single family home, ideally less than 20 years old (willing to budge if major upgrades we're made w/in 5 years, such as HVAC, roof, etc) within a 30 minute commute from uptown Charlotte.

Even though not ideal, it is best to offer his half back in exchange for him signing the lease cancellation.

I highly recommend @David Greene's first book "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" which puts action to the idea: live where you want to live, invest where the numbers make sense.I am active duty military as well, and I live in San Diego.

Ideally, if you already have contacts in one of the cities that you know better than others that is where I recommend starting out but it really just comes down to how good of a team you have in place. 

Do this alongside a savvy tax and legal professional ideally. 

I have one from Chase and one from Barclays, both of them had good sign up bonuses and both don't report to your personal credit after the initial approval.For taxes the LLC doesn't matter anyway, it's disregarded and the rental income and expenses all go on Sch E of your personal tax return.Good luck!