It seems it was a temporary government sponsored play to help move Department of Veteran Affairs owned foreclosures off the books when there was a glut of them.  

Creating a holding company, LLC, business cards, websites, and all this other nonsense is like buying an indoor basketball court so you can pursue your dream of playing in the NBA . . . before you even try a pickup game to see if you are any good or like the sport.Buy an investment property and learn how to manage it.

And most of the value in the opportunities has been scaled off by all of the other players.Ok I’m gambling on the other side….

Our first house is currently being rented, and was being rented when we bought this one, so I'm not really sure how that plays into it. 

After about an hour of playing with it, I came to the conclusion that likely water had entered into the refrigerator from upstairs.

Sometimes it costs to play.

You might be able to find some materials online but you gamble on the quality.In my case this is what I follow:- Construction material locally so we quickly can resupply - Flooring locally (I find better prices and service this way)- Plumbing locally (I bought online for my first remo and quality was really bad) locally are more expensive but I don't gamble anymore as plumbing is something that is always a time constraints to complete and continue other works.- Electronic fixtures like fans, etc online.

He claimed that if we would just spend $2k on the backyard he would "increase the value of the house between 35-40%".I got him a $100 gift card to Armstrong garden just to play nice.

Why play with fire? 

In my opinion, some associations have way too much control and tend to take advantage of the out of state investors (not all of course).Is your preference to purchase another STR if a 1031 is the play?