Your best bet is to get to know wholesalers and other investors especially the seasoned ones since they will come across deals before they hit the market.I am not sure if all that rambling helped at all!

Your best bet is a construction loan from a bank that you can turn into a traditional mortgage after its built.

I made my first offer on a house I can barely afford as a primary resident (3bd, 1.5ba close to Tufts University), I am glad the owners went with another offer, I would of paid close to 2.5k a month in "rent" for a single room assuming I rented out the other rooms at a near optimal price.

-Would you buy 1 single family home ? 

Hello, I've recently rented out one of my properties to a single family.

My partners and I have 75 units in Birmingham and several single family properties in the Huntsville MSA.

But I would think that either a family would take the apartment (husband wife and two children) or college students and single professionals willing to roommate with each other.

You depreciate up to your basis regardless of your entity type.If you are a single member LLC, then literally nothing changes on your tax return. 

Might be a better bet to develop a relationship with a Realtor or ISA who will get you the info you need from the MLS system and eliminate the gray area with your job.  

Every single time a person posts about an Airbnb or short term rental, you have to put some ignorant remark.