So this one the City would in no way support the continued duplex use...So the final answer to your above question likely depends on the story, and also likely depends on what the City's preferences might be. 

@Amy Friend the company was building so many houses they were offering incentives to anyone who used their preferred lender.

Reads like Owner gives ATT preferred access & marketing and gets a commission on resident accounts.

I network as much as I can with my SOI and many sellers prefer to try out the pocket listing approach especially for properties that are in physical distress (meaning - need moderate to light rehab).  2. 

I network as much as I can with my SOI and many sellers prefer to try out the pocket listing approach especially for properties that are in physical distress (meaning - need moderate to light rehab). 2.

(Preferably online!) 

For multi-family landlords..do you have a preference between 1 bed/1 bath units versus 2+ that are more family friendly...particularly in downtown areas?

We prefer to rehab our homes ourselves - keeps us from having to deal with major maintenance issues in the first few years - but the tight market has forced us to look at some rehabbed properties.

The purpose of my post was to begin scouting out poppin vacation spots (preferably in year-round travel destinations) in areas that allow short-term rentals.

Down the road I think I would want to build more of a portfolio for cash flow but I know that will have to be more focused on cash flow upside rather than preferable location