Would your STR business even exist without Airbnb?  

Admittedly, I am not one that typically finds paid mentorship very valuable, but I also respect that my degree is in business with a focus on real estate, and my first job out of college was in real estate (so it is a little hard for me to take my 20 yrs of knowledge and rewind it to try to view mentors from a completely fresh lens).A couple points: I view mentors, especially these expensive ones as a catch-22. 

Self management works if you are local and can separate emotion from business.

For example, $50,000 loan at 10% paid out evenly over 10 years.Like I said, super new to this part of the business, so trying to wrap my head (and spreadsheets) around it.

Is the mid term rental business that you have a 'rental arbitrage' business?

The nice thing about the arbitrage business model, is the companies usually pay you a monthly rent, and then they handle all of the AirBNB stuff. 

First two deals were cash, we were running business out of the locations and had the opprotunity to buy.. no brainer :)

I am actively expanding my STR consulting business!

Just tap into what talents you do have and offer that in exchange for shadowing and learning about the business. 

Everything looks great and a year later that employer goes out of business or lays everyone off?