Here is my situation:- I'm a W2 employee that earns north of $500k a year- My wife is a stay-at-home-spouse- I'm looking to buy ~ $1,000,000 in STR Real Estate by the end of the year (as an investment and to offset my tax bill)I'm fairly well versed in the rules surrounding using STR to offset active income.

Another question is whether these properties are being repriced to their fair market value and how long it might take to find qualified tenants in this area.

That's fair.

*My husband and I are fairly new to real estate investing and are both Active Duty stationed in D.C.

I would also try to familiarize yourself with local landlord-tenant laws, including fair housing regulations, security deposit limits, and notice requirements for entering the property or terminating a lease.Prior to renting, conduct a thorough inspection of the property before the tenant moves in, and document the condition with photos or a video walkthrough.

I wrote a Blog on this very subject.You will eventually learn enough to be of help to yourself, just keep doing it and record the prices so you can start to get a feel for SF costs.One thing I can offer is this website,I have checked them out and they are fairly accurate , you enter your zipcode, I just hate for people to be off by even $10k, that could be your profit on some projects, right?

I would ask your buddies about fair trade policy.

So, I will even consider some of these people with bad scores if their score seems to not represent them fairly. 

Be a great landlord, provide timely communication, responsive maintenance and fair treatment.

I’m 23 years old and fairly new to the real estate investing world.