The governing bodies here try to maintain a steady growth with our abundant land without nutso Cali-style policies.

Better to concentrate on property that provides a safe steady cash flow, where mortgage payments can be reliably made from rents, and appreciation potential can provide “windfall” profits.  

There's an abundant amount of Multi-family homes that can get you some steady cash flow.

=(I have stayed in an airbnb before where I had to stay in the guest bedroom and it was a NIGHTMARE not having control over the AC temperature as I did not have access to it at all.

And given that Illinois doesn't show any signs of changing, I see this being a steady flow for a bit yet.

I'm trying to gain some perspective on the types of people that make good tenants(I know working class/steady jobs).

Do you want a good known tenant with steady income, even below market rate, or look for a new tenant who might not be as good, may not pay on time, may ask for more stuff than you're willing to give.

You can educate your tenants on this.Once you have it serviced you can see if there was something that you feel you should give the tenants a allowance for.Ultimately you can tell them you have no control on the temperature, their thermostat settings etc.

I keep my teaching job for the benefits (and steady income of course) which helps with raising my child.

Root causes for high humidity: too much moisture getting into the air, not enough ventilation, not enough air movement, low air temperature.