But even if you have a completely self-serve laundromat, problems will still occur.

Albuquerque is already such a wonderful place to live and do business so I am all for anything that will make it even better.  

The rules are more complicated than your one sentence, and even Tom did not have the time to explain all of them on his podcast. 500 hours is one way to qualify for material  participation, and there are other ways.

There are some home loan options that require as little as 3.5% or even 0% down.

I'd personally say pulling your water heater out and replacing with a wall mount on demand one, would be worth the cost to have in unit washer dryer if you are staying there or renting it, it would be worth it.its always worth doing the big stuff well and correct even if you are cleaning up after someone, the long term hold always prevails, its just a little frustrating front sometimes, but hang in there!

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

Id be happy to break-even with the rental income if I get all of my invested capital back.

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

Even if a software is free or cheap, it's the time investment getting things set up and then tweaking it for the first few months that is the real "spend".

A successful STR needs a good bit of cash upfront and if you’re doing a BRRRR then even more now for rehab.  100% financing everything and the rehab is not advisable unless you’re a very skilled and hands on STR investor.