Also, 2 years ago it would take us a week to find a qualified tenant but now its a month. 

Fear of a market crash, fear of negative cash flow, fear of humiliation by one's family "we told you it was a bad idea"The reality is, you'll hit some bumps in the road, but it is very hard to really screw up BIG with REI as long as you buy quality assets and don't completely fail at managing the property i.e. too lazy to fill vacancies..Ironically it is that fear that will make you buy a cheap property instead of a good one, because you "feel" that a lower price will curb your risk.And fear will make you accept a marginally qualified tenant because you are worried there won't be a better one next week.

It's a fallacy to line them all up and try to have them go head-to-head, or to zoom in on hypothetical return modelling that really doesn't sufficiently account for the reality of how the instrument may perform.My two cents is to work with a qualified financial professional that can help assess things that might make sense for you, model things specific to your situation, and then make an assessment for what things seem to be a fit, and which things don't.

Qualified section 179 real property.You can elect to treat certain qualified real property you placed in service during the tax year as section 179 property.

Our strategy was to renovate, rent it out as a STR (short term rental), and manage it ourselves to qualify for the STR tax benefits in the year 2022.

Currently, I'm only offered 27 hours of work per week at an average/below-average pay rate, which isn't nearly enough to save for a down payment or qualify for a loan.I've tried selling belongings to generate extra income, but it's not sustainable in the long run.

Do you know how many qualify usually when they apply?

When qualifying in this regard, since this is considered variable income, you will need at least 12-24 months of receiving this form of income, in order to use it for qualifications, similar to travel nurses.

You can't qualify for a HELOC on the rental due to DTI?

Down Payment Assistance:  What do I need to qualify for downpayment assistance?