That higher interest will be a lower cost than the closing costs for the refinance so a net gain (depending on your new loan size). 

My plan is to purchase a home that I will hold onto while hoping to gain both forced and time appreciation.

You wont pay capital gains when you sell the house as long as it is in the SDIRA but you will have to pay normal income tax when you withdraw cash from the SDIRA after retirement but would you rather pay income tax on $90K or $300K?

I’m brainstorming ideas on how I can market myself to potential mentors in the STR game in order to gain experience.

I did it after I purchased my first park, but gained a ton of valuable insights and networking opportunities as well.

My goal is to help property owners navigate management challenges while ensuring their investments are well taken care of.I’d love to hear from experienced investors about what’s working in the Charleston market and share insights as I gain more hands-on experience.

Certainly nothing ground-breaking in terms of ideas here, however I'll be very hands on (and on site) during the process to make sure that every step of the way is executed to a high standard and very carefully.Once I've hopefully developed a successful track record and gained experience, my next goal would be to move on to commercial assets (think multi-family, industrial etc) so that I can leverage my existing investor network and real estate knowledge to raise 3rd party equity and take on bigger projects.

Money saved can be seen as money gained.

A good way to gain money for retirement, etc..

Or what are other tips to start gaining traction from the beginning?