Most of those specialty programs (first responder loans, downpayment assistance, etc) are based on local state/county grant programs that back the loan.

Submarket is showing strong gentrification.  

I ended up not even going STR after digging into her projections and finding out they were not realistic and were just based on city-wide data.

The city's population growth, strong rental demand, and job opportunities in tech, logistics, and military sectors make it a reliable choice.

Lets go over your questions one by one and provide some general thoughts based on your goals1.

A lot of that is referral based or people find my site online, organically. 

I don't know about you but I prefer to buy/invest in a market that has strong demand when it comes to my future profitability.

You just got a super cheap education #8 I would seriously consider a bond fund etf vs real estate based on your post. 

I wouldn't worry too much about it, if you have a competent CPA or bookkeeper they should be able to review your books and within minutes have a strong grasp on who gets a 1099 (spoiler alert, not every contractor gets one, I'll be annoyed if I get one since I'm structured as an S corporation) and the amounts to report.1099 filings are usually a loss leader for us, so if you're working with a professional make sure you take advantage of them filing everything for you.

My focus is on finding off-market deals and building a strong buyers’ list.