We are looking at a $1.4M rehab, and so far the bidding is extremely competitive.

Extreme move but could be a life-changing decision.2.

This is an extreme example, but in 15 years, your rent might be almost double what it is now, but your monthly mortgage payment will be the same. 

Please any advice or input ANYONE has on this topic would be EXTREMELY appreciated.

3% is extremely low. 

I'll PM you about a GC that I have used in Olympia, but I will say here that it is VERY hard to find good, honest, AFFORDABLE contractors in the Olympia area because Seattle jobs pay so much more.

Honestly, I think it's because I'm a girl, the guy purposely ripped me off and essentially charged me double... they did replace some roofing  boards, but overall it was just BS.. did work that wasn't agreed upon.. going from a $5200 quote to $10,300 is BS in my book.     

Non-occupied conventional loans will typically require 25% down.Again. discuss this with your lender and be honest about your intentions...they may have a work-around. 

In all honestly in every single avenue I think you will be fairly disappointed in the returns.

May require paying a tiny bit more and having all of your personal and rental policies with the same company, but honestly not having the extra complexity is nice.