Surely there is a clause in it regarding the amount of money they are permitted to spend without owner approval. 

Median Price: $525,000 +7.14% Yoy - 7ish % isn't unusual, I have multiple ~7% moves since 2016.Sales: 5,344, -10.06% - normal number for September, 2020 was unusually high due to delayed purchases from Covid thus the yoy lossYTD sales: 41,238, +8.36% - highest Sept read I have, houses are selling.Inventory: 5,875, +6.16% - still too low compared to pre-Covid, see stacked chart.New Listings: 6,366, -10.61% - still too low compared to pre-Covid, see stacked chart.YTD New listings: 51,949, -2.47% - prior to Covid we were running 60k+ houses.Months Supply: 1.2, -14.29% - persistently low indicating an unrelenting sellers market, see the Existing homes as a % of households chart, continues to shrink.Cumulative days on Market: 26, -44% - persistently low indicating an unrelenting sellers market

I also don't want to spend money on continued professional treatments just to have them infest from next door repeatedly. 3. 2018 home was purchased for 150k, 6% increase every year.

I've cleaned it myself the last few times and luckily it's close to where I live, but I'd rather spend time in other areas. 

You may want to shop the flood coverage and find out if you can get an inexpensive policy without spending on the Elevation Certificate.  

The couple hundred you're going to spend can save you money, time, and trouble.

The most important factor is where you spend most of your time, but the other factors that are relevant include addresses on documents and proximity to various venues/people.

My question is should I continue renting and spend my 40K savings on a down payment for a quad somewhere like Cincinnati or use my money to purchase my first home, just to get out of renting?

Our biggest motivation is to be able to spend more time with our kids and to stop spending so much time commuting every day. 

I'm wondering, however, if that's my best first move, or if it makes more sense to keep renting and spend my $40K savings on a deposit for a triplex or quad in a place like Cincinnati where it's much more affordable and up-and-coming?