When you start raising money, the kinds of investors you're going to get are individuals who want to make a better return than the stock market. 

This property also launched my short-term rental journey, running our first Airbnb before transitioning it to a steady cash-flowing rental, allowing us to scale into bigger projects.

I am from out of state so wanted less maintenance in the short term while I build my portfolio and grow to the point where I am comfortable hiring a manager!   

@Kristian Forbes Short of doing another house hack or negotiating the purchase price down a fair amount, I think that's going to be a tough one to make the numbers work.

If they’re open to living elsewhere, keeping the property as a short-term rental seems like the more profitable long-term play.If you’re enjoying the self-management and the demand remains strong, I’d lean toward keeping this property as an STR and exploring ways to add another.

If so you could run the numbers on taking a loan on the zero-debt property to pay off the other.I'm still unclear on the goals - you've brought a lot of other things into the equation (e.g. paying of high interest debt, STR as personal vacation home, stocks/dividends, etc.). 

My name is Max Nelson, I am a Bay Area based Investor with a single Family home in Santa Cruz, CA that is a Short Term/Mid Term Rental and a Duplex in Bend, Oregon.

As a Pacific Northwest native, I’ve seen firsthand how the region’s unique blend of natural beauty, vibrant cities, and year-round attractions make it an incredible place for short-term rental (STR) investments.

everyone wants the distressed assets you're trying to find.the short answer to your questions is: start going to lots and lots of meetups and network in person.i would also think about house hacking as soon as you can. 

It is a nightmare evicting deadbeat tenants, so when they are out I will only go back to AirBnb, short term rentals in the future as Vermont has laws very favorable to annual leasing tenants.