HomeGuard is not cheap so I want to make sure this is worth spending money on.

It costs less than $5,000 a year and I spend more than a couple hours with them.

To me, this would signify a larger rate cut to encourage more spending and economic growth.

Anyway, I spend a lot of time in the STR forum and I didn't take either of you to be pissing on the post, especially since Jay, John and Michael are all major contributors to this forum and are pretty level headed overall.  

I would say 30k would be a good amount.You could spend alot more or substantial less.You can save some money by buying quality used furniture off Craigslist or FB marketplace. 

I need to continue to pursue cash flow but would very much like to be in a more remote position to spend time on the lending side because being a realtor and appraiser is limiting in a local geographic sense. 

However, you could definitely spend the time to figure it out yourself and do it. 

No reason to spend thousands.

To avoid tax fraud, keep accurate records of your rent and spending.

I.e. if you pay $1,500 in rent right now, when you are living your own property, you are in a better position as long as you are spending less than $1,500/mo all said and done, so even if you are out of pocket $800/mo, you have better cash flow and building equity than just continuing to rent.All that being said, in many markets, most deals are not cash flowing unless you put a significant amount of money down on the loan.