I would greatly appreciate thoughts on the below:- Locations generating good rental yield and appreciation- How to find deals (i.e. realtors, professional network or brokers)- Important legislation / information for foreign investors in the US.Thanks in advance. 

A co-venture is cool and you need to make sure that the legislative environment in your city/state has a friendly attitude toward short-term rentals.

I don't have a clue how this is going to play out and no matter how much anyone claims they do because they have read this or that in the regs or the legislation they don't either.And here's why...Every single law ends up with unintended consequences.My bet is somewhere in this country, right now, a lawyer and one or more interns or law students are looking for ways to have Dodd Frank not apply to something their client wants to do.

With the sweeping legislation overhaul in Jan 2016 some LA ADU owners are going through the process of getting their illegal units permitted.

For me the main risks associated to STR through Airbnb are (i) the possibility of legislation restricting how owners can rent and (ii) paying too much for a property just because the yield during tourist season is high. 

Plus, the awesome thing about Seattle is that rents are high and with the new legislation you can add another 1-2 units to any single family house (basically you can have up to 3 total units in any single family home now).I’d look at doing both here.

How will forbearance be legislated?

We will be working to try to affect this law in other legislative ways, but cannot hope to gain traction unless our members have clearly communicated that they are opposed to this portion of the rules.

If he doesn't a hire local property manager for Madison or Milwaukee it may be hard to keep up being across the country with the legislative changes, municipal codes, etc.  

AZ is the first state to legalize VR's so you're in good hands legislatively.