I do relatively well in my day job by today's standards but my hourly rate for self managing is closer to that of a surgeon. 

You have to educate them.

In today's market with high interest rates, it's most important to make sure that the numbers work when analyzing a deal.

I'm also looking to get my hands on a good calculator for short term rentals since I'm terrible with Excel and only have a calculator for long term rentals that I know is missing sections that are specific to short term.Any help you can give me would be very much appreciated :) BiggerPockets has an Airbnb calculator, and I see that you're a pro member.Since you've read the STR book and done other education, you know HOW to pick a market lol.

If it didn't mean trading 3-5% rates for today's rates, I'd refinance and have all these loans with my local credit union who doesn't sell them.

Offset today’s income with depreciation.

And probably in ways we can’t fathom today.  

Educate yourself on how to house hack.

Today is very different as it is all about the management (and not appreciation) compared to past where management could suck but you still had superior apprecation.This will not crash housing of course but all those "creative" deals where people are paying more than market value are going to realize they have no exit. 

Investor focused realtors & Property managers are going to be your biggest asset since they'll be finding your deals & managing the day to day operations for you.