You’ll want to get really familiar with local zoning laws, short-term rental rules, and landlord-tenant laws as they vary by town if you plan on going the STR route.Focus on Cash Flow Early On: You might be tempted to go for something that appreciates quickly, but in the early stages, it’s important to find properties that bring in cash flow.

If not you might be stuck with the work and the commitment to doing it since the city would be the ruling party.

Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday reinstated a nationwide injunction that had been issued earlier this month by a federal judge in Texas who had ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act was unconstitutional, Reuters reported on Friday, thus suspending the deadline once again for most reporting companies to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)."

It would not surprise me if they were acquiring the paper and servicing rights to take an inside line on refi's for these customers if rates decline.Actually CFPB regs may NOT apply if the subject loans are investment or commercial property loans and not SFR owner occupied or consumer loans. 

 I think just a general rule of thumb is if you don't have experience, I'm talking years + and hours + in this field.

I would get the new tenant to apply and process it per your criteria.  

So as a rule of thumb I have about $15,000 in reserves for capital expenditures.

The rules and payment standards vary significantly from one area to another, so familiarizing yourself with the local housing authority's procedures is key.

But this has me wondering what would get me a 4 star review and what template would apply.

It depends on a lot of factors; primarily the local jurisdiction rules that may limit lease changes (in Portland/Oregon rent, security deposit, screening fees, an no-cause evictions are heavily regulated).