You would think with a fixed rate loan the COC would improve over time but the other expenses are so large that the COC stays about the same year 2 to year 5.

I save up every 3-5 years to buy 1 property 1.25x DSCRd, ideally through BRRR, and buy about 20% of my downpayment worth in a high-rate not fund--high rate as in a 2-5% above prime but not this egregious triple prime super high risk nonsense).

If you only plan on owning 2-4 properties, then there's really no harm in self-funding them unless you know a better, safer way to make more than the going interest rate on that money (most investment mortgages right now are about 7%, maybe effectively 5.5-6% after taxes depending on your brackets and tax structure).

I've definitely seen parents purchase properties close to campus to house their kids while they're at school, it's a solid move.

@Ben Berg with renting rates, roommates or a straight rental, you always look at comps, or comparable homes.

I wouldn't want to be doing a new BTR deal right now and ReFi at a 7-8% rate, unless of course it penciled.When subbing out to other contractors, you can expect to pay 20-40% more than it would cost you to manage/do the work, so make sure you bake that into your model as well.

One challenge about short term rentals is that they are not always booked and initially getting those bookings to a minute, people were more hesitant since we didn't have the super host and premier rating.

The key is to understand the capital stack, who is in line in front of you and what are their terms.The people who are getting burned may have known there was debt in front of them, but did they know it was short term or variable - did they know all the details to make a good judgment on the investment.If a property had 20 year fixed debt at 70% would you take that over 3 year debt on a variable rate at 50%? 

Did the POA confirm the interest rate, loan amount?

To research the market, we look at other Furnished Finder listings in the area to help determine competitive rental rates.