If you want to wholesale, find the largest wholesaler in your area and work to provide them value and expect nothing in return.

If you want to find a STR manager that’s not going to take all your profits, you can use a company like Evolve, which is actually based in Denver and happens to be one of the largest in the business. 

The benefits to using available cash to fund multiples investments as opposed to paying all cash for one investment seem pretty self explanatory, but the largest benefits...especially in real estate...are likely the ability the spread risk across multiple investments and the ability to make multiple investments in a shorter period of time, allowing your cash flow, equity, and ultimately potentially your net worth to increase at a faster pace.To answer your question about traditional financing directly, yes you can obtain a traditional mortgage and put a large cash down payment down, essentially financing 'part' of the purchase price.

Ongoing population growth, a thriving tech scene and strong economic factors point towards potential value increases down the line.

The largest city on the Coast, Coos Bay/North Bend combine for a population of less than 25k.

All I can say is that is a real question, as an economics major, I thought long and hard about this and actually maintained a small portfolio of rentals myself in IN and MS.

Going to school for business analytics with a minor in economics.

For LTRs, the 1% rule is a good starting point, but also consider the property's location, market trends, and economic factors for potential appreciation.

Among the top reasons, I would recommend understanding what different price points look like in different areas along with taxes, legislation, population/economic growth, affordability & rental demand. 

We usually had around 3 other people renting for us and sold the house a few years later as the largest sell price in that neighborhood to that date.