A property came up that's in a good area, my back yard (Rochester NY), seemed cheap compared to the neighborhood, and wanted some practice.

If I had not extracted cash from them, I would put their cash flow up against every cheap OOS market.  

To thrive, begin by studying the nearby real estate market, grasping property values, rental rates, and vacancy rates.

Also, it may be smart to consider the differences in the rental rate if you were to decide to shift strategies to an STR or LTR one day. 

If an investment property, there non-warrantable DSCR loan options.Some details:Loans available for purchase, rate and term refinance (no cash out) and cash-out refinanceCredits score down to 620LTV are up to 75% for purchase and 70% for cash out.Rate buydown feature available.DSCR (lower of gross rent lease or Form 1007/216 rent divided by PITIA) as low as 1.0x.For experienced investors (one year of investor experience and own home), short term rentals can be structured off of 12 month short term rental history with 20% expense factor.

I'm thinking if you're only here for 3 years, rent...and as cheap as you can. 

I’d like to hear how other investors feel about using “subject to” as the advantages of (1) no qualifying, (2) lower interest rates and (3) no financing costs seem like enough to turn a marginal deal into a worthwhile investment. 

Great question, I saw a post yesterday that someone got a HELOC for a down payment on a property last June and the payment was $500/month, interest rates went up and now they're paying $850/month.

The bank has said that they would charge a higher rate for an entity on title.  

Census data - median household income, employment stats, bachelors degree percentages, crime, vacancy rates, appreciation2.