I am doing well with renting to people within a 3 hours drive who are going stir crazy with their kids.They come to our lake house and can still work remotely, do their school work online and play on the lake.Better to be on vacation than in lock down.I have been offering deals to extend people who are currently staying when I have availability.I have been doing ok with back filling cancellations so far.

Should I play it safe with a lower payment or have close to my same payment with some cash out for possible investing in the future?  

Also, how does the location of the property play into this decision (if it does at all)?

As long as they are staying inside - playing board games, naked twister, watching movies, etc., no harm no foul.

I think there are three factors at play here:1) Many renters have decided to put off their move until after the pandemic has passed (they inquire, I follow up, they've decided to wait).

Take a year or more, maybe two, living and saving for the next play. 

We are seeing that the change in FHA criteria has impacted one of our buyers and even though the house was under contract when the changes in FHA loans came into play, the buyer could not get approved as a conventional buyer.

If you play your cards right, you finish right when Covid restrictions ease and you're one of the few new rehabs on the market, less competition.That's my 2 cents.

I suspect they're probably unsure what the future looks like and they're playing it safe.

Not an attorney here, but I would add that it is possible to do Joint-Ventures with a good number of people however, there has to be some rules met such as weekly/monthly meetings, each person plays an active role, etc.