My side also has a small bonus room that could be an additional bedroom if needed.

Find you an agent with a team behind him of solid general contractors, lenders, and property managers as well as other necessary contacts that will make navigating the best neighborhoods for solid rentals that will help you achieve what your looking for (Under $180K for SFH and/or a duplex, cashflow, and $1500 - $2000 in monthly rent) Here is one extra bonus to add into the mix for your criteria..

It’s only a 2 Bed/1 Bath, but it’s 1,450 square feet with a laundry room (which could be turned into a 3rd bedroom), has a bonus sunroom, and 2-car garage.

I turned the extra room without a bathroom into a workout room as a bonus amenity.

If you want to go the extra mile, adding something like Netflix or Disney+ is a nice bonus, especially for families or higher-end guests, but it’s not a must.Cable TV?

Other than reduced bonus depreciation (if you're using that strategy), without any tax law changes, rates will be largely the same for 2025 as 2024, so you may not lose much by delaying receipt of the bonus by a month or two. 

There are also bonus rates for larger investments.

To gamble, I will go back to Venetian Casino, either “DOUBLE IT” or “LOSE IT ALL”. 

Bonus I found a co-host with a presence in the area that would co-host it for 15%.

Someone I know bought a ranch to use as a short term rental property in 2021 for $1.7 million.Engineers did a virtual site visit, they were able to assign a value of $347,000 to either 5-7-15 year assets that were eligible for depreciation.In 2021, the bonus depreciation amount that you could take was 100%.This means that the owner could immediately deduct the full amount of eligible property in the year it was placed in service, rather than depreciating it over time.With that in mind, he took the full $347K deduction in his FIRST YEAR of ownership to offset taxable income from rentals.This was roughly ~20% of his purchase price.It was a big win for him.In 2024, the bonus depreciation rate is 60% so the calculation would be different.That said, you can still save and defer a ton.