The issues I ran into was the local market was already flooded with STR's and in order to be profitable you had to stand out with a home that was either near an attraction (ie great view, Garden of the Gods, Downtown, or a College) or the unit had to have amenities (Hot tub, Instagram Wall, Pickle Ball Court) that would place your listing far and above other similar listings.I think you should strongly consider if you more interested in moving away and starting a life somewhere else, or in creating a cash flowing investment to supplement your income? 

As a private lender myself the "pitch" is simply the deal and the borrower.

As I build up my SFR portfolio I am starting to ask myself: “Is the idea of SFR cashflow simply a spreadsheet myth?”

the goal of a house hack is simply to repurpose your housing payment and build equity.you said you're paying $1700 in rent. 

STRA is at it's foundation simply a lease with rights to sub-let.

They are simply too well-funded and have too many brains working on bringing about improvement and innovation.  

God knows I struggle with them myself.

God bless.

Often, they simply re-hire existing talent that have already been working on these farms for many years, just under new, better-capitalized management.

Some of the only methods Ive come across involve simply looking at the age of the homes in the neighborhood or comparing the amount of development in the area to surrounding areas.