What I mean is, some investors look strictly at cash on cash return, some look at cap rate, others just want to make sure their mortgage is covered.

Flips have done good not great, Air Bnbs are going good not great, and rentals all were brrrr'd perfectly but like most cash flow just enough to pay the bills and cover expenses.

I suspect I will throw more money at a problem Airbnb has no interest in covering

Assuming the ARV you mentioned is accurate, at 75% LTV you'd be able to pull enough equity to cover your existing payoff, refi costs and walk away with a good chunk of cash in your pocket.

Which BTW most of our closings are subject-to the existing financing, so we have little cash into the deal, just the arears and the closing costs.You find NOD and pre-notice via;   realtytrac.com / equitydepot.net (if they cover your area). 

Use tools like the VA loan for house hacking and your Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to cover living costs while building equity.

We like the short-term rental idea because we could stay at the property ourselves when we want - summer break, spring/winter breaks, etc.Our budget will be right around $1M or less ideally, and we would like a short distance to the ocean.How likely is it that we could find a property as described above and have it cover or come close to covering the mortgage? 

And, voilà, you have your own guide.Problem is what they'll likely want to know will probably be basic and already covered by those guides.

This is an area that home inspectors typically do not cover in their reports.

We cover a large geographical area (nearly 400 miles) because there are usually only a few STR eligible properties for sale in any given city.