@Stephen FlemingFrom my experience working with over 400 investors, your strategy of leveraging a low mortgage rate, tapping into home equity, and diversifying with a short-term rental (STR) in Northern Michigan is well thought out.

Hey @Brandon Toron,Given your plan to turn the property into a short-term rental (STR), you have a few creative ways to push closer to that 90% cash-out goal, even if traditional lenders shy away from it:1. 

Conveniently located in Bryan TX, within walking distance to A&M Bus stop and a short 5 minutes drive to College Station, home to the largest university in the state, Texas A&M.

You could go the house hacking route with buying MFU, etc.It MIGHT be interesting if you are a traveling nurse to turn your house hack into a short term or mid term rental while you are gone.

I like this idea because it reduces the potential vacancy I could have by doing a short 3- to 4-month lease that ends in April or May, then starting over with a year lease.

Also, the short answer to your question IMHO is as early you possibly can haha

This works best when the seller is motivated and open to flexible terms.4.BRRRR Strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat)– If you find the right undervalued property, you can finance the rehab with short-term funding and then refinance into a long-term loan, pulling most or all of your money back out.5.House Hacking– If you’re open to living in your investment, you can use an FHA loan (as low as 3.5% down)to buy a multi-unit, live in one unit, and rent out the others.

On the other, the prospect of short-selling the homes didnt look so awesome either.

Reason being HML's are typically short term loans that are interest only.

Quote from @Nathan Gesner: There were a couple experienced investors on the forums that loved to tell everyone they could manage a short-term rental in just five minutes a week.