it's been a lot of work for me to get this ball rolling. 

It's still not clear that you really intend to roll your sleeves up and tackle the problems at this project.

If I don't, it gets rolled over to the following year ($40K) and so on, until I make a profit. 

And you can easily get a hassle free, risk free 5% or ~$1,000/month return right now (wealthfront, treasury notes, money market mutual fund, CDs)...or roll it into a different investment property.

I had asked for referrals from people who joined but were no longer a part of the group, but I was not given any because they had ceased contact.

I push back too when people claim short-term rentals are pushing prices up - they might play a minor roll, but absolutely the biggest drivers are supply and demand, local economy, the national economic trends.

There's just no time, you have to be ready to rock n' roll and drop everything to even compete.Looks like the Feds are signaling no upcoming cuts at their next meeting, either.

Even if it is mid winter, you could always do an 8 month lease that rolls into a year long lease in August, setting you up for future success, timing wise. 

Ended up landing 4 sales for more 4-plexes.2018: Taking a little break for the first 6 months, focusing on doing rolling rehabs on all units I picked up in 2017, raising rents to market, improving general operations.

You should be able to roll the closing costs and 2nd into the new refinance mortgage after rates drop a bit.