Bernie Madoff made guarantees to his clients, so did Charles Ponzi - the "inventor" of the Ponzi Scheme.How will the guarantees be guaranteed? 

You might have other options to explore to drum up liquidity (HELOC, Margin Loan, Policy Loan, etc) that can supplement your HYSA in the DP.

Rates are going to start to fall in or aroud May/June of this year so by the time you have purchase the nest home you can do a "Rate & Term" refiance and lower the rate on the first home. 

I love San Antonio, I am lucky enough to visit there when I was in the military service. 

What should my next step be?

Would that be, for example, if the PM says, "I manage a duplex for John Smith in Turlock," then I call John as a reference, ask John a few questions, and then ask John the address of his duplex so I can later look it up on the county website and verify if he is the owner?

With that said Phoenix had one of the highest home price declines in the last market down turn.  

I’m brainstorming ideas on how I can market myself to potential mentors in the STR game in order to gain experience.

If you want to grow, the next four years are the time to do it.

Send me a PM and I'll send you a couple of examples of what is on the market outside of Atlanta so you can run your numbers and see if that fits.