Reading between the lines, if they were open to a concept shift, they weren't open to it soon enough to make the pivot before running out of money.So my buyer picks it up for a tad under what the seller paid for it, a few years ago, before the $500k in upgrades.

Already have my sales pitch and how to pick the owner. 2.  

Tell the tenant to Pick one. 

And I never ended up actually working with any of the people I met with/talked.The best thing you can do is pick a market and educate yourself like crazy on that particular market.

When you have to hold units empty till the HOA is totally satisfied with your picks, it can be financially devastating.

Maybe time for me to start selling and wait for the fear to arrive once again and pick up some more amazing opportunities.

Get yourself out there and don't be afraid to pick up the phone and actually talk to someone. 

Let's use 6% interest just to pick a more reasonable cost of money (ie. not todays crazy rates).  

I picked them bc the credit card and mortgages reported.

It seems you have your seasons a little bit off: February is a slow month for Sedona and March is when things start to pick up.