I definitely thought it was a scam but it was legit and easily one of my most profitable 1 night stays away from a pure revenue stand point.

I sold my company to a national PMC named PURE,  they have a large footprint in California and are always looking for people at most levels. 

Not sure about MTRs.My general conclusion was that it is tough to do business in the town if your goal is to buy property as pure rentals out the gates and no intention to occupy.

There are very few, good buying opportunities in the Austin metro-plex for pure investors.  

The inspections have become so nitpicky over purely cosmetic items there has to be an extra $1-2k per year to keep up with the punch list every 1-2 years.

Or is it purely an investment? 

If heat goes out in the winter we drop off several units, so they can be placed in different parts of the house - including every room with water like kitchen and bathrooms.We also have dehumidifiers, carpet blowers, shop vacs, puddle-sucker pumps, extra hoses, extra sump pumps with battery pack, squeegees, and portable AC units ready to deploy. 

The biggest challenge seems to be finding lenders that offer these loan products which is where I’m looking for help from the community with recommended lenders that serve Texas.The Fannie Mae (or Freddie Mac) options are preferred over FHA purely because of the (perhaps perceived) limit on renovation funds that the FHA option provides.

No one understands (except the PM) why it cost $100 to send the maintenance guy to change $3 worth of batteries. 

Just be the absolute best host you can be for the first year -- communicate clearly and quickly, make sure cleaning is top-notch, make sure all amenities work (hot tub is hot, TV remotes have batteries, etc. etc.)