The 6 month leases have a higher monthly rate than the 12 month lease, because there are very few landlords offering that window of a lease, and because there's a cost of turnover/transition as you mentioned.

Ideally you've of already visited the areas you're targeting so you have a sense of the vibe of who's renting, what they need/want, where they go, where they work.Now let's pretend everything went smooth, you're either going to work with realtor to get it rented or a PM.

Currently I am transitioning from my W-2 income to go full time into real estate by August, and I'm always up for connecting with someone who like to talk real estate.

The process if different that regular transactions and experience is needed to ensure the transaction goes smoothly 

You need to have systems in place to handle it well and make it a smooth routine.

Put your properties for sale and simply transition to the cheaper properties as your old ones sell in twos or threes. 

This would allow you to get the "process" worked out a little better so you can help the investors see the transition from what you currently do to the new building.  

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

Before transitioning into hard money, I'd run Facebook ads to sales funnels that featured my listings to capture buyer leads.

Are these reasons actually the main reason someone only wants a cash buyer, or does a cash buyer just make that transition much easier and faster?