While you may have read a lot or practiced the mechanics of making a deal, nothing is a substitute for actually going through the process and you need to safeguard yourself from as many mistakes as possible.   

Hello,I was curious about the possibility of obtaining a mortgage as contract worker, if any of you know a way to get a mortgage in my current situation please let me know.My situation:Age: 23 graduated college with BS in Mechanical EngineeringJob: Working as a Mechanical Engineer at Western Digital through a contract agency (5 months in), I will start my second 6 month contract period in late February.

I maintain spreadsheets for all my STRs - each booking platform has different export/reporting mechanisms and like you, I don't find them useful.  

Not to mention most sellers aren't going to give you unfettered access to walk every unit on a property and examine all major mechanicals before you have an executed contract.I'd recommend reading https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Buying-Selling-Apa...

Looks like C&C is using some type of mechanism or enforcement task force which is tracking the properties listed on Airbnb or VRBO sites, and then doing their checks if the property owner is paying taxes for "resort " zoning or not.

@Caleb Heimsoth Not sure if I know the mechanics of what you propose. 

Finding a mechanism, strategy, tools, knowledge, skills, etc is secondary to the emotional piece.

Are the mechanicals original?

When a big ticket appliance or mechanical system of the house breaks and you have no reserves because you have no profit you’ll be sick to your stomache . 

Cap-ex is going to depend on how old your house is or how old your mechanicals are.