My idea is to take out an FHA loan on the property and "live" in one unit, as in have my mail and whatnot set for that address, but still stay at my parents.

Generally I think 2brs are better because the tenants stay longer.

Instruct the tenant to stay out of the water until emergency services can visit the house and ensure the power is off in the flooded areas. 

Some of the very best and most experienced property managers can even tell you some of the history of certain properties and what pockets you should look at and which you should stay away from within that certain submarket. 

Here' how I would do it with $100K using a BRRRR Strategybuy a 4 Plex for we will say 250K / 20% down = $50K DPPut $20K into renovations, it helps if you can do some or most of the work yourself (Sweat Equity) Rent out three of the units and house hack by staying in the 4th unit so essentially you would have $0 living expenses if done properly.Get the property appraised after making the renos, we will say it gets reappraised at 325K.Refinance for 75% of the new appraised value (325K*0.75)= $243,750KPay back the original mortgage of $200K You end up spending $50K DP + $20K Renos = $70k to get the property and you'd get back $243,750K - $200K (original mortgage) tax free back plus $81,250 in equity in the home that is tax free as well since you'd be getting refinanced at 75% of the total mortgage you'd receive the remaining 25% equity in the newly appraised value of the home ($325K *0.25) = $81,250 in Equity plus $43,750 in cash. 

I prefer to stay in Oregon, Washington, or Idaho.

You'd stay in the middle, collecting payments from the investor while making payments on that underlying loan.

My realtor just reached out to let me know he has a client building a house that needs a place to stay for 6 months. 

I stay away from things that are less than 1% just because it makes it very  hard to cash flow. $1,500 rent - $120 vacancy (1 month/year) - $70 insurance (guess) - $280 taxes (assuming 1.75% city/county) - $150 maintenance ( guessing 10%) -  $150 management (10%) - $780 mortgage interest and principal (20% down and 4.5%) = -$50   NEGATIVE CASH FLOW!!!!!!. 

I would be very careful commercial in small towns can stay vacant for EVER and a Day.just drive through any small town between Dallas and New mexico.. look down the main street.. nice brick buildings 90% vacant then on the outskirts of town a walmart and the associated fast food joints..the resi might work.. and maybe you change the commerical to cheap storage but put NO value in its cash flow would be my advice unless there is some compelling reason you think those would be leased.. if there was demand they would not be vacant would be my thought