Reverse engineer the list of most recently acquired hospitality business built or bought within the 30-40mile radius, You’d be puzzled at how much capital they have to play with.Crowdfunding or Real Estate Syndication: Platforms dedicated to real estate investment might have investors interested in backing a boutique hotel project.

Also, your DTI does not come into play. 

No it doesn’t, it’s just how he played the game back then.

This is in an effort to let the investment play out and try to minimize their loss. 

I wonder if the disciplined, long-term play is better than having the cash now.

Yes, in the smaller communities that I live, work, and play in.

It’s becoming clear to me that relationships play a huge role, not just in getting started but in long-term success as well.

You definitely need some WOW factor in play here!

I also have some solid contacts I can bring into play.

@Hunter Duplantis what @Gino Barbaro said is exactly what I was going to suggest.When you have vacancy is the time to experiment and apply your original thesis.I’m not trying to play Monday quarterback here but, you should be highly confident in where the rents should be well in advance of having a vacancy.That being said, after confirming competition rents on websites (I’d also recommend Craigslist and Facebook marketplace), you should be in alignment there.