A forum is an open discussion...I don't know why this is so difficult to grasp.

As far as the reporting goes, the rental income and losses will most likely be reported on your Schedule E - speak with a tax professional who has expertise in real estate.

Issue is they don’t know who the lien holder is so they have to investigate. 

I am now in the negatives as far as ROI with things like buying lists, paying for dialers, etc.

I love that you took the time to investigate WHO you would do business with, which is so important!

Also what am I looking at far as cost?

I'll echo everyone's statements that each place is so different it is hard to give a blanket number.

Do I have them put down the same amount or decreased amount since it is so far in the future?

As far as STR goes, you can house hack the property that you first buy (in a single family home or in your unit of a multifamily property) and potentially do short term rentals in all of the other units or in your exiting property.STR as a way to invest is getting more challenging currently as supply of new STR inventory has been outpacing the demand for STRs.

Our inventory is so tight, that the market does not give a discount for condition and without that whats the point of a serveral months long rehab project if you don't create equity.