Let me know if you ever want to chat more directly about house hacking as my wife and I personally do this as well as most of my clients that I help!

My initial idea was 10-20% down with 7% interest rate for 10 or 15 years after doing research. 1 person suggested a balloon at the end and another person advised against it. 

Every meeting you attend and every person you meet will be another building block in your success story.

Regarding the septic approval, my understanding is that systems are rated for number of bedrooms under an assumption of usage and per person usage.

Furthermore, delaying decisions may prevent both parties from pursuing new opportunities aligned with their respective goals.Evaluate your long-term financial objectives and personal aspirations for the portfolio.

First person I met was the section 8 case worker.

@Aaron DuboisI don't know what your personal situation is, but can you house hack an STR with your own capital? 

So, while taking into consideration the age and condition of the damaged item at move in and the time the tenant was renting for is a factor, I personally don't think using a strict IRA depreciation schedule makes sense.

This is considered a personal home - even though it has rental income, so you only have to have 3.5% down frequently, not the 20% down it takes to buy a true investment property.  

They seemed willing to work with me on a cash out refinance bridge loan, but the representative that called me is super flakey and gave me different information than the person that emailed me.