A cozy cabin surrounded by nature or a luxurious condo close to town?

I found the really luxury units less hot there but those probably won't be what your buying. 

Both bathrooms feature new vanities and counters, with a luxurious feel in the master boasting new white and grey marble flooring and modernized shower.

On the show he said that he just rented his new construction luxury home for 45.000 USD a month for 2 years.

@Josh Bryan Patience is a virtue...Hope the property works out!

I could move into a property that looks like a good deal (either in SF or the Easy Bay) and secure an FHA for 3.5% down by virtue of living in the property as my primary, rent out additional rooms, and essentially function as the property manager.

Either build luxury single families or larger apartments.

Our place is hardly luxury, but we are catering more to the river floating and hiking crowd, so it’s a little more “low end”, but we’ve not had any real complaints on stuff.  

@Joe Alford lots of virtue signalers on her but I’m pretty compassionate myself so I’d give her some free prune Juice and a QVC gift certificate when I evict her.

Obviously, your rental income is lower than with vacation rentals but I assume that the prices you pay for a property is much lower given that 1) you are not on the beach and 2) you don't need to offer property of a quality/luxury level that can compete with hotels.