We have done very well turning our personal properties into rental when my husband is transferred in addition to pure rentals.  

Some things like Inspection and insurance and gap lender payments are pure guesses as I've never done any of those things so not sure of the cost yet. $4,656 profit just doesn't seem like a good ROI when you think of all the risks or a problem that requires more $$$ or I may have forgot about something in the initial equation.  

But as a pure rental prospective, you paid too much.

I would feel way more comfortable with my contractor just focusing purely on getting the houses done

This is purely asking which type of lending you believe is the best route.

My bias was toward this being purely a rental.

Been thinking about BRRRR instead of a pure flip since building a rental portfolio is the ultimate goal, but the equity just isn’t there for that “repeat” part of the BRRRR.

I'm not sure about a 1% difference between SFH's vs MFR's but I do know there is about a 1% difference in the interest rates between primary residence/owner-occupied properties and pure investment properties so that may be the issue.

My question is, if I purchase a rental property purely as an investment and I don't live in it, could I still qualify for a first time homebuyers programs when I go to buy a house to live in?

This is basically a pure speculation play - it is very likely that it may work out as you are expecting, but I personally wouldn't like the fact that I have essentially no control over the opportunity to make a profit.