Yea this is a long-term personal play more than a strict STR deal. 

I personally started in my local real estate market in Columbus Ohio.

Personally, I've felt the investment has been poorly run in almost every possible way.

This will allow you to remove the person and do the financing on your own.Home Equity Loan/Line of Credit: Since you're looking to access equity, a home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC) can be a good option.

Personally, my primary residence has appreciated around 6% in market value and I live in Levittown. 

I've done enough personal home projects to know, if I find a deck company it'll be 2k, but a GC will charge me 2.5k to over see it...

I got a deal on labor as I know the contractor personally and helped out a bit with the project.

We will shop for used appliances where we can when we need one… or pick up used cabinets if we can, or search eBay for something smaller,  but going to the extreme of personally shipping something big in internationally for one-off renovation needs seems like a stretch of reasonable.Just like you mention, the number of unknowns would not seem to be worth it to me.Just my 2 cents.Randy  

I personally own in Racine, and I am expanding my portfolio into Milwaukee. 

I am still personally buying rentals but I am not expecting much in the way of cash flow at the moment.