Cute, Clean, Comfortable are the best practices.

Is dry and comfortable.

I'd try to take the time to understand what this property would look like if the numbers come in at a worst case scenario, or at least a worse scenario than what you predict, and see if you are still comfortable with it.  

Not sure if that's why they were gated or not, but the homes were noticeably cheaper...I'm more comfortable investing in a community that has a lot of STR's.

As mentioned, DFW is a huge area, expand your search within your comfort zone.

I wanted to go OOS and BRRRR everything, just as it is promoted on BP, but in the end I had a really tough time finding an agent I was comfortable on using in the market that I was looking at and couldn’t overcome the fear of getting taken advantage of, so I decided that I will start locally, even though it would be really tough for me financially.

Because my capital is low right now I don't feel comfortable buying my first property where I live.

Are you going to want to hold this place long-term and are you comfortable renting out as a student rental 5-10 years from now? 

I would expand the basement and maximize the property so that you can turn it into a cash flow positive asset and refinance it into a conventional loan and then re use the FHA.

Live in the smallest/crappiest unit to maximize your return.