Today, my wife, 2 year old daughter, and I live in Arlington which is perfectly central to both Dallas and Fort Worth.  

We maintained a good relationship with the tenant, but his daughter had smoked in the unit in violation of our property rules and in so doing ruined the tub surround too.

As I said before I currently rent with my family: wife and 3 month old daughter. 2) I am currently waiting to hear back from TrustCo Bank for pre-approval on a conventional loan for my first property to see where we stand on a ball park price range.

Yeah, I think it's more mental than anything - the 300k properties are in better shape and generally in higher populated areas, but if the income isn't there (it generally isn't twice cheaper properties to justify price) , it just isn't going to make sense to get something out of budget and just hope it works.

However, if this mentality is someone's inclination, I'm not sure how likely they are to actually become an investor.

You can't charge a fee or extra deposit for a service animal (either a mental or physical disability). 

As for owner occupied financially makes great sense, but mentally depending how much you can take is a different scenario.

Publicly announcing that your area is videoed or secured means that when mom tells her daughter she can go for a walk with her new friend but to stay in that common area, knowing it is secured,  puts the guardian in a position of care, something happens to little Bella and you don't have the video, you may get your clock cleaned in court. 

I am currently building my mental model of understanding the investment property well so that I can close the deal if it does seem like an opportunity.

I believe you need a base to be in the proper mental, physical, and financial state of being.1. learn to clean. get good at it. get into a routine. learn the different products and brands, and which works best for each.