Since STR “lives” on reviews, being “right” because of the contract the guests signed might be the most expensive “right” you’ve ever experienced.So what’s left for the “wanna be” STR investor in today’s market?  

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

If I live a busy life and don't have the time or care to invest on my own, but want to put, lets say $200k to work, is a 15% cash flow return reasonable? 

If you go into Central or South Scottsdale (Old Town) $1M will buy you a smaller, older home, OR half of a big, remodeled home (as alot of the Arcadia and Old Town area are turning over old small homes to be big beautiful homes in the $2.5M range and higher).There are options.....for both buying and renting, that would work with your situation.By the way....it's 51 degrees in North Scottsdale right now where I live. 

I live in Portland  Maine , I am new to real estate investing and looking to connect with any local investor.. thank you.

I live in the Newark area.

I have a client that bought a condo to rent after living there and the HOA ended up outlawing rentals.

Having a property management company seems to be a good option for me since I am living out of state.

You may also want to consider buying this as a primary and living in it for a year.

I also suspect inflation will drive continued migration to lower cost of living / lower tax states.