To be clear, I don't think this is redlining, but the flag always goes up in my head because I don't know enough about it. 

If you can't or don't want to now might be a good time to unload the properties.I will say overall I think that "nobody will care more about your property than you" tends to be much more true than false. 

I think buying points right now is probably a bad idea.

I would think most investors are trying to get out of there.

It got me thinking: maybe we’re solving this puzzle in the wrong places.I’m the CFO of a company that develops, builds, and manages multifamily projects, and we’ve been digging into rural markets in the southeast US—think rural Georgia, Alabama, places like that.

Save the cash unless you think a quick spruce-up (paint, minor fixes) could push the short-term rental rate higher.

When I floated the idea of buying it from them myself, they said they were open to it if that's what I wanted to do and gave me time to think about it.

Good problems to have :) Either way, appreciate the context and this has me thinking, exactly what I was looking for.   

I don't think it's wise to try this until you have proven experience and a solid partnership agreement.It's OK to scale slowly.

I think the immediate area is very critical.