I recommend homing in on what MOST vacationers are looking for in a specific market and try to find properties that have natural features/amenities that are scarce.  

However, i recommend newbies start in or close to their home market.  

Does anyone have a good inspector recommendation in Chicago northwest suburb ?

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

Let’s say my ARV = $900kDo you recommend doing my loans based on actual cost (700k)?

I recommend that you contact a lawyer to setup this process for you.  

Assuming that's true, I would recommend looking for a replacement property (or properties - you can purchase multiple in the exchange) with value of at least $725K (selling price).  

If these type of damages occur in the future, I would recommend holding the tenants deposit, or if there is a claim to be made through the insurance you sell them you could approach that avenue.

What strategies do you recommend for securing hard money loans for spec builds?

I personally don't like the idea of using OPM as is often recommended for people without their own capital.