Not to mention he is within a stones throw of our house, (our other house is just a few feet from ours on the same lot) & he completely creeps me out- I don’t even feel comfortable letting my children out to play in our yard in case this weirdo is outside or walks by- and I never go inside without my husband being there as I feel like he undresses me with his eyes.

You will either find 1)there is something in the applicant's background that doesn't agree with your rental criteria  or 2) you're simply more comfortable with the other applicant.

Love their education, and they have been key to allowing us to expand out of California into Texas.If you don't mind me asking, how did you research / develop contacts / get comfortable with Northeast Ohio, and what made that market so attractive to you? 

But- remember, this is not how actual comps are calculated - just how I would arrive at some sort of comfortable level.First- is the cost approach ( yes- it's a real comp method - just won't be too accurate in this scenerio).

At the same time do your own research and decide in what grade of properties you want to invest in, and the risk tolerance you are comfortable with. 

It's comforting to hear that it is fairly common.I do understand where they are coming from.

You may only need to do this once to get closer to the comfort side of the house hacking spectrum (as Craig Curelop describes in his book The Househacking Strategy).Regarding what rehabs are less urgent and time-consuming, here are some questions you could ask yourself about a given property:1.) what large capex items are outstanding? 

I think its important to find a middle ground that is comfortable for both you and your wife.

If you are comfortable getting a bridge loan through private money you can still get 20% down payment on anything 1-4 units.

I know I'm going to be analyzing a lot more properties before getting comfortable.