I did STR in a duplex starting back in 2017 and managed for others in North Conway, Ive since converted to all long term tenants and happy i did so... unless your property has something unique or a "rare" amenity.... like, sleeps 30, I honestly would not waste any energy on it in the north Conway area. so saturated, and so much big money being invested in the hotels, its tough to match amenities vs cost, and I see travelers trending back towards the hotel style accommodations. granted, for the right price, I'd buy anything and figure out what the best use for it is. use airdna.co for decent data on # of Short term rentals in any particular market. can also identify opportunities. the point of my response.... be careful in STR in any area and always have a plan B. you can change a lot of things about a property, but your cant change your basis!

Rent the larger room out.  

Do they prefer to work with smaller PMs or larger PMs?

So this is a tricky thing.Accountant's / CPA / Professionals who get paid based on their knowledge and time normally do provide a 'free consulting' call to have a chat with them.However, please be mindful that the 'free consulting' most firms offer is very high level and moreso to see if you both would be a good fit for eachother.Sometimes, these calls are done by the owner(if its a smaller firm) or business development  professionals if the firm is larger.1800-Accountants is a large firm so you are likely first vetted by a non accountant whose main job is to get the sale.Best of luck.

They're usually a larger fund and can sometimes afford to pay more.

Ohio and Pennsylvania have lots of older small multifamily that I do think is very suitable to house hack - sometimes you can buy a place with a studio or 1 BR that also has a 3 BR or a 4 BR, you live in the smaller unit and you rent out the larger unit. 

That said, if the property you're attempting to finance is materially larger than the properties you currently operate (IE - you're trying to finance a 30 unit building, but have only operated a series of 4-plexes to date), then sometimes this rule gets thrown out the window and you'll still be subject to the "Limited Multifamily Experience Sponsor" re-sizing parameters. 

If you have that much equity, perhaps a $1.5-$2M would make sense, but I assume that would be a larger property with more doors.

I started with a tri plex, met Jake and then started buying larger deals.The key is to treat real estate as a business.

Popular neighborhoods include Lakewood and Casa View, but larger multifamily properties can be expensive.