I have been looking at local private lenders, too. 

@Tom Dean - alright private message sent! 

My first deal came from the thousands of postcards that I mailed out to private note sellers in TX.

Again, I have no idea. that's a much more personal decision, and that is probably why Jonathan Greene asked for more information from you about your experience level, especially since you wrote "I am totally out of my league understanding the possibilities of an MTR".To be successful in the MTR space, I would recommend that any owner or operator strive to provide the best customer experience possible.

Overleveraging by paying too much for the property mixed with mixing hard money with private money for a 100%+ LTV at the beginning of the deal.

Jamie,You can also message me privately if you would like to speak further.

However, this is a difficult qualification to meet, especially if you have a full-time job outside of real estate.Don’t worry if you aren’t able to qualify for REPS status, because there is another strategy that is referred to as a “loophole”, which is the STR strategy.Per Section 1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A): there are six exceptions where your rental property income is not automatically considered to be “rental activity” and thus may unlock the door for being able to offset these losses against your active income.The average customer use is seven days or less.The average customer use is 30 days or less and significant personal services were provided (for example, daily housekeeping).Extraordinary personal services are provided, regardless of the duration of customer use.The rental is incidental to a non-rental activity.The property is available during defined business hours for non-exclusive use by various customers.The property is used in an activity conducted by an S Corporation, partnership or joint venture in which the taxpayer holds an interest.If your property qualifies by meeting one of the exceptions above, the next step is to demonstrate material participation in the rental activity.

I am working on a product that will help small-medium size landlords launch and maintain Internet presence at a small monthly cost without spending big budget on custom development.It will include: SEO, custom domain, direct syncing with your property management software, syncing with QB. 

As a private asset based lender we often see loans that institutional lenders have turned down.  

Their customer service was not helpful.