Don't drop dollars to pinch pennies.

In a pinch you can put the furniture from your own house in your STR. 

There are tons of non traditional lenders out there, so you would have options in a pinch.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/01/31/cmha-raises-public-housing-standards-renters-pinched/22596041/Just saw this article posted by the Cincinnati Enquirer.  

COVID-19 has reinforced this belief of mine - those who were already stretched due to other debt REALLY felt the pinch when tenants stopped paying, or were simply unable to pay due to lack of employment.

I don't want to underwrite sellers, if they're in a pinch.

. 😇 i might be too nice with people penny pinching. pretty sure they can’t beat my 35-65% off shelf price though, but they can spend however much money they want, not my money not my problem.

As a backup, perhaps have a line of credit to cover repairs in a pinch.  

I have a local company, they get my counters done in less than a week and they are on par with the cheapest pricing I have found.If you truly are pinching pennies the way your describing (buying the cheapest of everything) don't waste time with granite.

It can be done successfully, but you need to have a good network of contractors, real estate agents, maybe a property manager, and even just a few friends (that you would pay for their time) in the area that you can rely on to help you in a pinch.