The unit that I can't STR is leased 100% with no gaps but I'm stickler for leases starting and ending on a semester timeline.

It's a very murky water between Private Money and Hard Money. 

So a few things you can do. 

We will be the only or one of a few that we can see with this type of amenity in our market for a vacation rental.

I think the numbers will far out perform a REIT even with a mediocre deal.

Do note that you will still owe some tax in the form of depreciation recapture for the time that the property was used as a rental property.

I have a good 10-15% down lender on rentals. 4.

I'm a little curious about some of your assumptions: 1) Vacancy at 3% is very low (5%-8% is more common), 2) 5% income and 0% expense growth aren't realistic - more common is to have the difference between your income and expense growth around 1%-2%, 3) Paying P&I during rehab isn't common - normally this is setup as an interest only period until the property is stabilized and then do a DSCR loan, 4) A proforma cap rate of 9.21% is very high for this type of property (this more of a cap rate for a Section 8 property).

Look for a solid house that's in need of nothing more than updating.Major structural, utilities and foundation repairs might be a big bite for your first one. 

That’s a huge step.