But I do know our city needs a lot more of the first type. 

Call your city and see if that's large enough, I think you need more like 10-12 ft width and 15 - 20 ft length.

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.DM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

If you share the city & state where the property is, I’d be happy to connect you with someone specific.

Out of your list, I suggest the Northern and Western cities you listed (Conroe, Montgomery, and Katy).

As you may be aware, the City of Asheville (about 2/3 of Asheville is in city limits; the rest is under county jurisdiction) has had strict STR regulations in place since 2016.

What city/market is the property in? 

I generally recommend if you're not going to buy a property in the city/market where you currently live, the next best place to look is where you have family (and presumably a place that you'll visit relatively often and easily).What is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper", assuming you buy in Peoria or a similar priced Midwest market?

Kansas City is a great city to invest in.

Of course I am partial to Kansas City.