Based on my poor customer experience I’m not confident you will get any money back after the 5 day cancellation period.

Does it sound like a plan, what experience advice here. 

Anyone with experience with this during the architectual drawing and design phase of the build? 

I know from experience.

My original plan was to rent out the space to Section 8 tenants, but from my experience so far, dealing with Baltimore City housing and inspections can be a serious pill.

He will have the most experience knowing what works and what can cause trouble, once there's trouble. 

For me, though I would take this as a learning experience and work to remediate the issues and try to keep this tenant.

Not to say that you can't jump to long distance investing right away but if you don't have any experience I would try to at least invest in one property within a 1-2 hour drive from where you live.

Houfy is a great cheap option, but I highly recommend creating a branded website to enhance your guest experience and be able to house resources, local favorites, etc. 

House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.