I highly recommend working with a real estate focused tax pro to explain your specific strategy, so you can be made aware of any pitfalls that could get you into trouble. 

Focus on quality, not quantity.

In my opinion, you need to be able to estimate rehabs at least at a high level on your own.

I don’t think you’ll have a problem selling it as it will be highly desirable for either an investor or a home owner looking to house hack.

Because investing in real estate in general seems to offer more of an advantage than just stockpiling extra money from our W2 job into a high yield savings account. 

High interest for a short duration that you control seems like the way to go to me. 

It's on the far NW side and has inventory in that price range, but consider that taxes are relatively high in Elgin VS most suburbs.   

Rents are all inclusive of high speed unlimited internet, lawn care, housekeeping of common areas, and all utilities.  

I don't know if this is a rule of thumb, but it's what I usually do when skimming properties at a high level.   

Obviously, we don’t expect this magnitude of crisis to return any time soon.Reason #2 is that high interest rates are causing some buyers to step back, with others choosing to wait for more favorable interest rates.