My suggestion to you is to focus on a particular segment. i.e.

In my research (FDIC), I found a description of the portfolio (non- Fannie Mae) segments held by the bank.

It's hard to stand out.There are some owner-occupied segments with people who share motivating factors for selling their home.Seniors with Long-time Ownership: often ready to downsize or transition to assistance.Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS): Struggling financially and likely ready to cash in on their asset.Both these categories have additional advantages in that they probably don’t haven’t been updated and may have deferred maintenance.

There must be a certain segment of the population who stay at hotels that have that requirement or or at least place a value on a gym.

The homes that appeal to our target tenant segment are priced between $320,000 and $475,000.

However, in a quickly changing market, even 60 days may be too long.InventoryA property can have a short time to rent when there is a shortage of rental properties may take much longer to rent when there is a lot of inventory available.After RenovationIf the subject property is not in good condition, we typically choose comparables that are in a similar condition to the subject property after it has been renovated.The Process We Use to Determine Time-To-RentWe look for comparable properties that rented within the last 30 to 60 days within one mile of the subject property.We eliminate properties that have issues or are not actually comparable.We select or eliminate properties based on the after-renovation condition of the subject property.We generally stay in the size; generally ±15% of the subject property SF.For the segment we target, the lot size is not relevant as long as long as long as the lot size >3,000SFWe stay within ±5 years of the age of the subject property, if possible.We try compare single-story to single-story and two-story to two-story.Some Additional ThoughtsIf we find a significant variance in time to rent, it is likely that we did not select truly comparable properties.If a property takes longer to rent than expected, check the quality of its photos.

Do let me know if you have a different contact for them and I'll happily try them out.As for the newbie, I understand, I would expect some sort of segmentation (most likely by current investment income) but I still need to start somewhere ;-)if you now of any newbie-friendly, non-sales, groups that I could attend please let me know ;-)

It is very inspiring to me as I have longed to work up into this segment and hearing that he jjst went for it has changed my mind.

Invest in solid fundamentals, then sit back and ride the price and rent appreciation curves.What is far more important is selecting the right location, tenant segment, and property.Location - The location determines all long-term income characteristics, including appreciation and rent growth.Tenant pool - The tenant pool defines income reliability, including paying all the rent on schedule, length of stay, and more.Property - The property defines the tenant pool, initial return, time to rent, maintenance costs, and renovation costs.If you choose the right location, tenant pool, and property, the odds of achieving a reliable passive income that keeps pace with inflation and lasts a lifetime are very high.

I am not an expert in financing, but I wanted to chime in and talk a bit about the STR market in this area and what I would do as a STR investor.Of course, the STR market is very segmented.