I will say, in my personal opinion, flips are much more risky.

I'd be delighted to make a personal introduction, and I'm just as eager to discuss life and real estate here in sunny Medellín, Colombia!

I know there does not seem to be a strong presence on BP for people in the New River Valley area (Pulaski, Radford, Blacksburg, Roanoke) but I would like to try and get some type of networking event going (either in person or in an online group). 

I would still take a look in person since Detroit is block by block.

I have personally been involved in house hacking and furnished rentals for over five years, and it's been fascinating to see the quality of mid-term tenants we've had over the years.However, it's worth noting that in our area, the demand for short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO has declined in the past 24 months.

It's your property and investment.Of course you don't want the maintenance person taking your $300 set of a steak knifes.  

It is money I can take out early and avoid the penalty because of a divorce but it has to go to a personal bank account and it has to come to me in a lump sum.

AirDNA and other rentalizer tools are a great resource, but you can not beat real life numbers from a local expert!

I don't know anyone there personally doing it like we do, but it's something to consider.The other option, of course, is to just try and bump up your expected monthly cost from 10% to something like 12% - 15%.

A DSCR loan, or Debt Service Coverage Ratio loan, is underwritten to the property income instead of your personal income/taxes/debts.