I am semi retired at age 44, I sold my franchise business 1 year ago and have a very good idea of what it takes to operate a business successfully. 

We are not real estate licensed, so that would be the biggest area of opportunity to learn (we'd use a realtor at least in the beginning).We are considering selling the company because 1) my husband hates managing W2 employees/operations (but he loves working with subs) and 2) it would give us extra cash up front to reinvest.

You know, operate it like a business.  

I want to be happy and free in my late twenties, like the book suggests, not worrying about operating these franchises.

Some loans like DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) loans are based on how the property operates as a rental (income, expenses, etc). 4.

Yes, it's more work up front, but we have an investor relations team dedicated to performing that work so it doesn't distract us from operations. 

For example, do landlords in that neighborhood charge for coin operated laundry, or do they hold pet deposits?

We are operating on the assumption that Lakewood market is pretty matured at this time.All thoughts welcome!

Say I want to buy a property to operate it as a STR (with material participation avg < 7days stay).If I travel to the beach to see some properties I am interested in, am I allowed to deduct the travel, stay, meals as expenses?

You materially participate in an activity if you're involved in the operation of the activity on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis.