If you can spend 250-325k, you should think MTR, not STR, because that is more likely to scale in any area because of all of the different types of renters for MTR compared to STR, which is more location-based and amenities-driven.

If you have I’d love to hear your feedback.What other programs out there would you say are comparable?

This is a business where you get out whatever put in, and can be very rewarding! 

Very comparative to purchasing something myself, yet total freedom.  

Partners with an experience home flipper to learn the risks and rewards of house flipping to build up some cash (This is considered a job, not real estate investing).4.

What is the market value of a bed room and a bathroom  for the purpose of Comparative market analysis. 

This is much much much faster and requires far less equity than if you compared that to say traditional single family rentals. 

I’ve been following much of the research you suggested, like inspecting the property and assessing comparable homes in the area.

You could probably do a NPV analysis on that compared to the price of installing a water softener up front.

I would use the Find a Lender tab on here to reach out to a few lenders and compare.