I leveraged my owned land to build my personal home.

I personally haven't sent postcards, I've had good luck with PPC and Video ads. 

Therefore, if you look at history, real estate has continuously performed in an upwards fashion while, like any other investment, has experienced short lived corrections from time to time.

I had the initial call with a PadSplit sales person, but I wanted to talk to somebody who's actually doing it to get their perspective and advice.

If you need more to do the rehab, perhaps instead of partnering, you could get your former boss to do a personal loan. 

They're long distance typically so viewing the space in person isn't usually a priority, and this saves you time from having to drive over and schedule facetime tours :)

Personally (as a STR-focused REALTOR), I would never give you numbers and tell you you can hit them. 

I let the booking expire and figured it was a troll.I then get another request from the same person about a month later for the same dates.

Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – so, they often select the first PMC they call or that calls them back!

As a disabled person, I want to be in real estate, but I know I am limited.