They work directly with agents and should have a good sense of which areas in town are "most popular" for placing residents and which aren't.

I have included a BiggerPockets article outlining BRRRRs and navigating leverage to scale your portfolio below.

I have linked a BiggerPockets article that goes over this method highl level.

Check out this BP article on BRRRRs and how DSCRs come into play for the refi portion.

Oregon is also an increasingly popular retirement destination, for primary and second home buyers that don't need to have STR permissions, the options and areas to invest are robust, and there is even high demand for upgraded and updated furnished mid term rentals to help off set operating costs.

Here are a few popular options for inventory management in the STR industry:Smartbnb: Smartbnb offers tools for automating messages to guests, but also includes inventory tracking features.

Here's a useful article about most of the changes.https://www.chicagocityscape.com/blog/chicago-appears-to-be-in-the-home-stretch-for-citywide-adu-expansion-8bfd8b2bc8

The biggest hurdle right now is interest rates, it is extremely difficult to buy in a popular market and actually make a profit out of the gate.  

Regarding a listing agent showing a property to an unrepped buyer and potentially triggering what is called "implied agency": this is when an agent performs agency duties for a principle (buyer in this case) who they don't have a written agency agreement with, and establishes an agency relationship through their actions: https://www.prepagent.com/article/creating-agency-relationsh...Hope that helps!   

Read this article on the "core 4".