And if you're planning to property manage yourself, then you're essentially working for free.Finally, you don't account for capital expenses.

In this way, they are leveraging their capital by essentially partnering with banks.  

If I rent out the first floor, it would essentially be all profit (~$3k per month).

You have 3 options on a deal essentially:-You can pay the agent commissions as an investor.

My net profit would be $30-$40k/year, that would go to the expenses essentially having me breaking even.

Not only that but we furnished the attached studio and put it on Airbnb and we have been bringing in about $1,500/month in revenue...essentially paying our mortgage and putting a few hundred dollars in our pocket.

Is an owner occupied loan essentially an fha loan?

You can essentially argue that the property was indeed held for over a year (under personal use), and was used in rental activity at the time of sale. 

It’s not hard to pay yourself through a single member LLC since it’s essentially pass through accounting but you want to make sure you do it in a way to avoid getting taxed twice on the $$Just make sure to keep track of it.

The LLC is essentially a "stop-gap" in regards to liability.