These tenants are not at all interested in living in an apartment due to the size of their family, furniture, etc.

I bought most of mine from Facebook Marketplace and a local shop that both refinish mid-century furniture with chalk paint. 

I suppose Hello Mindy, We did think about installing a railing and still can of course but that would make the stairwell even more restricted when it comes to moving furniture upstairs.  

I would say go the owner occupant loan route to get into something for 3.5-5% down instead of 20-25% that you'd need with an investor loan, but those require you to live in the property for a year before you could rent it out.Airbnb could be appealing also since you'd already be furnishing the place for yourself, could just leave the furniture there after you'd move out.

He left the (sparse) furniture in place and turned it over to a property management company and come summer he was doing very impressive numbers.

What sort of amenities or furniture type/style works best? 

I head to the park office and let them know the old owner seems to be missing, or was living without furniture, and I will be repossessing the home.

An interesting fact about High Point is that it was famous for being the "Furniture Capital of the World".

As a whole, high point continues to be a "blue collar" city,  from the big contributors of old dominion freight, thomasville buses, and the furniture market. 

Please be aware that investing in medium term rentals involves a lot more than running numbers and buying furniture.