I’ve built strong relationships with local agents and other investors in the Hamptons, which helped me discover this off-market property.

Many investors successfully build portfolios remotely, but thorough market research and assembling a strong local team (agent, lender, contractor, PM) are key.

Demand and occupancy appears strong, but the numbers don't add up for me to justify the effort of STR.

If you have a strong management company here in AZ, that is key. 

When evaluating a property management company, it's important to look beyond just the management fee and consider the full scope of services and costs involved.For example, at our company, we charge a 10% monthly management fee, a $250 lease renewal fee (unless it’s a takeover tenant, which requires additional effort to establish a strong relationship - because usually people are changing pm companies for a reason), and the first month’s rent as a leasing fee.

Your experience as a real estate agent, coupled with your technical expertise, makes you a strong asset to the local investment community.Your “live and flip” strategy and focus on PML partnerships sound like a smart approach to building your portfolio.

It explains the team that you should develop to have a strong foundation under you while investing remotely.https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team

You could pay the contractors but if you can be a strong referral source I'm sure they'd be happy to give you estimates.

Are STRs in this area still delivering strong cash flow?

That's why I'm focusing on education first; I want to set a strong foundation before making my first deal.Apologies in advance-I'll be asking too many questions, just to warn you-but I really feel delighted to be aboard, learning from each and every one of you and subsequently sharing my own successes.