This has been my strategy here in NOVA as well - though true multifamily housing stock is hard to come by as you are probably already aware.

if you were only going to rent out a portion of the house as an STR that portion would have to be worth more than your exchange as well.

I ask if they are US citizens or green card holders, and I ask for past addresses for the past 5 years as well as any other names they used in the past (maiden name, nickname, etc).

It does make me feel more comfortable as I know the are well as a Real Estate Agent.

Train them well and take care of them, give them guidance and structure and hold them accountable. 

I've been hosting MTR's now for 5 years and have worked with most guest avatars and my company helps independent hosts make those B2B connections so I'm fairly well versed in the insurance displacement aspect.  

A friend and I created one recently:https://drive.google.com/file/...It was meant to compare costs between different lenders, but you can use it to just see costs from one lender as well.

Works well for motivated sellers or properties with no mortgage.4.

My buddy just got burned by someone borrowing from multiple people where the others weren't aware of each other and they thought they were the only one lending, etc.It all comes down to how well you REALLY know each person in the deal, and then, "do you REALLY know them?"  

Commercial properties are not evaluated by "comps" (well not exactly) they are evaluated on cash flow.