We keep reading, listening and attempting to uncover how to make the brrr method work but it just doesn't seem reasonable.

A lot of these leads will be working with a realtor and the realtor should have at lease qualified them a little before bringing them to you.Craigslist works OK for lower-priced rentals but you can get some special characters that reach out to you from Craigslist.Good Luck!

Just to be clear, I’d be attempting to house hack the extra bedrooms or units on any property I’m considering. 

More important than any number in the proforma is the character and quality of the sponsor. 

Again, I don't think it'll impact existing housing and would probably be seen as changing the character of neighborhoods - If that is important to your assumptions on future appreciation.I think Biden wanting to dink with tax deferrals on sale is a LOT bigger issue.

Or should I be attempting to underbid on the market slightly to add a little more cream on top? 

Change is hard and only the brave attempt it!

We use strong credit and criminal background screening, as well as income verifications, identity and work verification, as well as home care and character references.

You've got this huge journey ahead of you and you can choose between a number of different character classes (banker, farmer, carpenter etc) each with different starting bonuses and drawbacks.

This does create a tax problem, and you have to deal with complex "vacation home" rules that @Ashish Acharya mentioned.You happened to quote a section of the IRS publication that attempts to clarify what exactly counts as those 5 or 60 days in my examples.