He even chatted with me through this forum (Bigger Pockets) and was very encouraging that you can even do it just with free stuff out there.  

but i also 2nd @Jay Hurst's sentiments - get a 2nd or even 3rd opinion on DTI/ full doc. i personally love files that are puzzles, i get some weird satisfaction out of figuring out how to make it work on full-doc, especially when my client has been told "no" before. if it doesn't work now, a good loan professional will help you create a path forward.

But I'm not sure how I would structure these deals or if I could even get these deals!

Would love any leads to help me solve this problem even if it means making some phone calls.

I have found that Redfin actually has pretty good search parameters to where you can look for listings that have been sitting a while that fit your buy box, and you can even do keyword searches for things like "as is", "investor", "seller financing", "guest house", etc. depending on what you are looking for.

I would recommend finding a real estate cpa even for one property.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

If he does pay, then you can just  cancel it but if he does not, you haven't wasted more time and have delayed the eviction process even longer. 

Heck, I didn't even want to make it about SEO.

STR feels more like a strategy to break even or eek out a meager return on a great asset than a strategy to cashflow.