So they can pay half up front, then the remainder upon completion when photos are provided. 

Same with heat; there are many stories of landlords who go by their rentals in the middle of winter and find the heat jacked up to searing levels, tenants walking around in shorts and half the windows in the place open.

We are targeting SFH in a 1 -3 mile radius of UNR campus.

I was thinking of installing a washer/dryer or offering half off the first month's rent. 

Often it is a lie or a half truth.

About half send checks and half are using Venmo.

In our own home this spring we put in LVP in all the rooms upstairs other than the bathrooms which we left for alone for now. ( new house to us ) We have a small dog that runs 90 miles an hour in the house and a cat and to date the floors show no issues with that.

I'm told that if I'm going to rent out my current primary residence and purchase a multifamily (Triplex) as my next primary residence, according to FHA rules that property must be more than 100 miles away from my 2/2 condo.

Or would it be better to sell half and keep half as incoming coming in? 

I visit my STR one to two times per year when I am in the area... but I lived 3000 miles from it for 9 months and didn't skip a beat.