I picked up my contractor license after 2 years flipping, for ease of dealing with permits. 

I hope to pick a direction. 

If you know that it was personal but deduct it as business - it IS... pick your favorite word:- cheating- stealing- theft- fraudJust because it's unlikely to get caught does not change its nature. 

Most of that time is spent on my weekly visits to each location to make sure they don’t need trash picked up and to make sure the lawn or snow removal is being done correctly.

I would pick something better, which does equal higher acquisition cost

FHA Loans are going to be essentially the same regardless of who you go with so probably just makes sense to shop for a few and pick the lender you are most comfortable with

As I get into short-term rentals, I’m curious: What should I look for when picking a location?

If I can pick up the phone and say I want a 3/2 1500 sqft house for around the same price as a stick build delivered and installed on my foundation in 30 days then that would get me excited.  

Most have a knee jerk reaction to stuff like this but I would atleast consider showing it and hear them out -unless you had much better choices to pick from

I am most interested in finding some people local to get ahold of to pick their brains/ learn from them.