So with that I'm curious to know how people are effectively reaching out to homeowners via Text blast while still staying compliant.Also if they are any SMS services that you recommend.

People always go for the cheapest financing, quit claim in to an LLC and go about their lives, when they've essentially done nothing to protect their personal assets. 

While the stock market is on the roller coaster, getting people to invest in real estate right now is just as challenging or even harder for passive investors to invest in real estate.

While I secured the initial financing for the property, I have two other partners/groupings (a total of 6 people) that are contributing to the closing. 

You want to look for an uneven multi to maximize what you can make, if that works for your family setup (how many people are moving with you, if any).

Take short-term rentals - they do provide several tax benefits, but they are hard to run and very hard to succeed at so people make the mistake of choosing the tax vehicle, get the benefit, and then lose money on the investment and hate it.

The reason I know this is because my first duplex was a complete gut, I had no clue what I was doing I just believed in the end result and trusted the people I was connected with locally.  

what you're going to run into is:-most people won't answer.

You could form a partnership with a couple people, delegate roles and start buying properties in a JV.  

You don't need amenities like short-term and the people looking for MTR has expanded from travel nurses to displaced homeowners, future buyers, just sold sellers, relatives coming into town, insurance companies, etc.