South Carolina (where I live) is a great state for many things but not rental real estate.  

We're starting to see more HELOCs and 2nd mortgages on investment properties nowadays.We deal with pretty much only real estate, investors and self-employed borrowers.send me a direct message and I'll get you a little bit more information.

We were the ideal customer of a real estate investor. 

CA is hard all the way around with real estate, but if you're willing to jump through the hoops, San Diego is a good place to have a STR in a CA city.

And if you tank you first one, there will never be a portfolio.So my recommendation is to worry less about the year one cash flow (totally overrated as a decision-making factor, yet you have to start there), instead look at it more wholeistically, opt for a less complex deal, and buy the best quality real estate you can afford. 

Learning how to responsibly use debt is one of the best tools any real estate investor has at their disposal.

Hang out with others that are doing what you want to do and invest your $25-$50,000 in real estate vs education. 

I would also add that you join your local REIA chapter (Real Estate Investor Association) as it will allow you to network with other STR owners and get more location-specific information. 

I decided to break it down and share the REAL costs and not just estimates.A lot of the work was screwing down and fixing the subfloor as well as completely screwing and securing the ceiling sheetrock.

I've read many of the BiggerPockets books like - House Hacking- Flipping- Estimating Rehabs- Multifamily Millionaire Book I and II- How to Invest in Real Estate with Low or No Money Down- Investing from a Distanceand even some outside of themand have been wanting to do something in Real Estate for awhile.