There are several hurdles during the process:Find the deal - Unless you are marketing or plugged into a community where there are opportunities, it isn't always easy to find the right dealsEvaluate the deal - Without professional guidance and research tools, it is difficult for a newbie investor to evaluate and ARV/FMV or create an adequate rehab budgetSecondary exit strategies - If things don't go as planned are their other opportunities to exit profitably.

I would trade the 7.5% I am chasing with my "barbell strategy" (of 40-45% commercial real estate syndications) for a 17.5% return gained in active investing.

Interestingly, though, people who have experience with STRs seem more likely to pivot to the MTR strategy once they realize how much easier it is and how well the renters treat their units.

I've found too many CRE owners overpay in a hot sellers market (much of the U.S. ) with a 1031 exchange + take on too much debt, since this is what they are used to and maybe the only strategy they know.

Any insight anyone has into which one of these strategies would be better than the other as well as other pros and cons would be very helpful!

That would be called the BRRRR strategy - there is endless info on that strategy here and on the podcasts and in the BP bookstore.

Now, it's time to explore your investment strategy. 

I'm inferring from this post that your marketing strategy has a lot of... steps... to it. 

My strategy is to hold it long-term, leveraging the steady rental income while benefiting from potential appreciation.

It requires a solid understanding of real estate finance and long-term strategy