In real estate, blunt honesty often protects people from common pitfalls or predatory advice that oversimplifies the challenges of investing.

. ;-) There is nothing false wiih what @Henry Clark said.Commercial real estate is broad - Office space, self-storage, Farm, Data centers, residential properties above 4 units, etcIt can be true that one part of commercial real estate is suffering while others is thriving.

The public searches are pretty limited in scope for a true investor. 

That is the biggest challenge I have with my clients.

Challenges?

The biggest challenge seems to be finding lenders that offer these loan products which is where I’m looking for help from the community with recommended lenders that serve Texas.The Fannie Mae (or Freddie Mac) options are preferred over FHA purely because of the (perhaps perceived) limit on renovation funds that the FHA option provides.

Yes, I have been very happy with the team at True Home Ohio.

House HackAttend as many REI meetups as you can to grow your network of investors for referrals, help through challenges you may incur but don't have experience with, and learn from proven guest speakersNetworking app like blinq to compile all of your contacts for REI in one area with phone and emailbegin conversations with local credit unions exploring what type of loan products they offer

My challenge is that I don't know when exactly I will be able to obtain the STR permit from the city, so I don't want to convert guests too prematurely. 

Too good to be true is also a huge red flag.