In general, my personal preferece is to move all of my properties to management.

If it's well written and well documented, this will take <2 minutes for every loan you do and solve your problem moving forward. 2.

I don't want to get stuck trying to rent out the house in winter months (upstate NY and no one wants to move in winter) but also don't want the tenants to have to leave until they are ready.

If my spouse was not so averse to the idea I would move once a year to new multi family properties taking advantage of low down payments.

We are in the process of finding  a HM lender to finance  a lot and spec build.We have a lot that we want to purchase and already have the plans and have built this house numerous times already.One lender is asking to have a permit issued before they move forward.

What can I expect moving forward?

I would get the FHA loan in my name and my wife and I spoke and I will live in the other home (most of the homes we're seeing are about 35-40 miles away from our current home so I won't be too far that I'm absent from my family) but I don't want my family to have to move out of our current home.

bay area california, only local moving forward.Oooohh that’s taboo to all the get out of California peeps. 

If you knew ahead of time, you did not comply with Sight distances, that should have been front and center prior to moving forward with any plans. 

I have been investing in Toledo, OH since 2009 and owned 2-12 unit buildings and find they are way too hyped (read lots of guys from BP want to pay too much for them) and the reality is residents in Toledo are ultimately seeking a house with a yard and a garage so as soon as a resident improves their financial situation they move into a house.