They have been incredible in dealing with my properties across the country and I'm looking to bring some value to them.  

@Cynthia GomezWe work with a few that will lend on new construction without a new build experienceDepends on down payment as well as potentially cross collateralizing it

But when I think wine and wine country holiday, I think France, Italy or California rather, not Mexico.

There is no question though the wholesale guru's and industry has brought this to the attention of many state folks and these laws are sweeping the country..

You're right in the middle of what looks to continue to be one of the hottest areas of the country.

@Benjamin ColemanRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

It might be anywhere in the country but right now are interested in areas our kids and grand kids are in.

There are people still moving to TN, which will continue to push pricing up, and while most of the country has seen rents either flatten or go down, most of these markets have done pretty good.Problem is in the short term it may  cause an affordability problem, especially in the smaller markets that don't have enough building.

We're in real estate and will cross paths again eventually, doesn't seem to make any sense to burn a bridge. 

ITs going to depend on a lot of factors but just jumping into STR "around the country" (i.e. potentially very far from yourself) is going to be challenging - property management fees are going to eat up a lot and its hard to cash flow as it is with current rates/prices.Most people would start with LTRs as its generally good for the "first investment" to be more of a learning experience and chalking up a lot of mistakes - so keeping $ amounts low, leverage conservative and the investment as "vanilla" as possible is generally good advice