My answer is always a mix of: You’re overthinking it and work smarter, not harder.A lot of investors are sold on the idea that STRs are a passive income source—which, to an extent, they can be.

Property owners are a prime source for collecting revenue.

I will post some before/after pictures of the property if anyone is interestedMy favorite room in the whole condo now

Turning a "SFR 3bed / 2bath with a bonus room" , into a 4 bed / 2 bath with the simple addition of a closet, is one of my favorite value add plays. 

I go through the applications and kind of number best to worse(job, salary, references) then if the favorite still wants the property, I run the reports and pay for it.

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

Bringing in a partner, second mortgages, line of credit are sources of additional funding to close. 

@Daniel LangRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

Tons of information on here about that, again also passive pockets and one of my favorites who puts out good info is Alexey on linkedin (google him you will find him)3.

Using criteria like price-to-rent ratio, pop growth, employment trends, and wage growth, relying on multiple sources (PropStream, Zillow, Rentometer, FRED) to calculate averages.