@Michael TorkuDefinitely recommend investing driving distance to you: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1171104-the-m...

Any excuse you give (you SHOULDN'T) will be met with challenge, bargaining, threats and sob stories.These people are wasting your time and driving away other customers in your business, and making trouble for you with the municipality, to boot.You're also being too soft and they can smell it on you. 

That's one heck of a drive and I'm currently in the military with two little kids.

Typically, these are families looking to ensure the property is within the desired school district and driving distance.

This will drive how much you can borrow.Consider More Modest Options FirstWith $200k in investments to deploy, look at starting with 1-2 short-term rental properties first to gain experience before scaling up.Explore markets closer to your mom's current location that may have lower costs but still tourism appeal.This allows you to validate the model and your ability to operate short-term rentals successfully before risking more capital.The short-term rental concept could potentially work, but I would recommend starting with a smaller, very well-researched first step to validate the model before going all-in on a larger endeavor.

There's a shared drive on google where the monthly reports were supposed to go but they stopped updating this year.

Has tarps to covering it since.Photos:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1--sh-4uJGyxEnVJZ3Ixhty-o5mF02HMhPM me if interested.

You can get a credit union to do a drive by appraisal for a HELOC and the brokers can tell you prior what it will appraise for and you probably dont have to pay for the appraisal. 

What I can tell you is that if you drive around Springfield you will see a lot road construction going on.

The presence of other prospects can drive home a sense of urgency in those who do show up, and hopefully one or more will meet your screening requirements.Best of luck!