Like I said I have the buyer ready to buy. 

And the locals in Highlands have been fiercely debating STR's and regulations for the last few years, so I wouldn't be comfortable buying there.

But buying without any inspection is rare.

Simply gifting him half the property now wouldn’t immediately allow him to claim the exclusion without fulfilling this residency requirement, I don't believe.One thought would be to use a HELOC to pull just enough equity out of the current home and use it to buy a smaller home, or at least the down payment.

You can make more through co-living in most markets, but still likely to be better off house hacking 1 / year and then buy out of state with your extra cash.If you want to chat strategy with someone - feel free to PM me or reach out to contact info in my bio!

Congrats on buying an investment property.

We do guarantee members will have the opportunity to buy a deal that fits their parameters if they put in the work.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

AND there aren't many note buyers who will buy notes with large balances in the range you mention.