If you want passive just invest in VNQ and withdraw x% in addition to the dividend vs getting pure distributions from a private reit, much safer. 

Of course, waiting is safer.

There are way better and safer things you can do with your money.

The very basics would be getting your furniture and shopping list together, keyless entry like Schlage (with backup lockbox with physical key very close as well), looking into insurance, local taxes for STRs, and moreAlot of ways to save time and make it easier to self manage with a property management software like Hospitable and data research like AirDNA.

To start I made sure that I found a majority of my furniture from locally sourced companies such as thrift stores, Facebook marketplace, mom-and-pop shops, and so on because I felt if I'm going to do this right I want to support the local community I am investing into. 

You’ve got to follow the rules closely, and that means working with a qualified intermediary (QI) who’ll hold your funds in escrow while you shop around.

It is challenging in the winter months as people tend to focus on the holidays, shopping, dinners, parties, etc.

However, in such a case, a rescue fund would hold a superior position in the capital structure compared to the common equity investors, including yourselves and there acting as a parasite taking equity upside from all common equity investors.While this might provide a safer position for the pref equity slash rescue fund, it would also significantly impact the returns for common equity investors (previous guys).

We syndicated 75%, plus costs of the purchase price and financed the balance with a traditional loan.We shopped around for weeks to find the perfect loan with the best rates and terms.

It amazes me how much random transient travel it gets(bowling tournaments, pawn shop remodels, manufacturing employees, traveling photographers, etc).