I'm hoping to hear some creative ways people are handling this part of the process.

Some strategies to lessen the negative cash flow are: house hack and rent out the other unit as a mid-term rental (to traveling professionals or for people temporarily displaced because of insurance reasons like fire) or short-term rental (business or vacation).

What blew my mind through this process is how people calculate returns.

If that is the case then you may just need to be realistic about what it is worth - cash buyers are usually investors and there has to be enough upside for them to make money.Have you talked to your realtor about the feedback received from people that have seen the house?

You should speak to your cpa but if multiple people are paying it then I believe it can be separated as long as it does not exceed the amounts paid and it must be legit

If what you say above is true then 1M people of fb need a license. by the way, I thought you were an attorney.

.: Whats the process to put these people in collections ?

IMO killeen is a solid investment. just have to watch which areas you are getting into. there are some pretty rough areas near fort hood but killeen is great because it is close enough to austin and people commute from there to austin as well. with fort cavazos near by and the new samsung plant coming online in taylor, it is a solid choice with steady demand for MF.

I think there's going to be a serious thinning out of STRs because of the overall market and interest rates, and people just getting fed up with the platforms, unless one of the newer no/low fee platforms takes off. 

Don't just look at the area overall and listen to people say its oversaturated and things are down.