I dont like any company personally that does not put their principals on their website as in meet the team.. ... 

With respect to paying $44k off on your HELOC, I personally think that is totally fine and a great start. 

A 4+ person STR will need much larger machines than a 2 person STR.

I personally use the mass text capabilities through my Resident RE CRM.However I have a few friends who wholesale and invest and use Mobile Monkey to mass text and from what they say the price is pretty reasonable.

Still can be very beneficial for a new investor but personally I think not as good as a service as they had with their exclusive listings where they had inspections already done, rent rolls available, and you can complete the entire offer/acceptance via their platform rather than being handed off to an agent. 

@Dustin Horner you should be contracting maintenance work and creating a preferred list of vendors as @Phillip Austin has recommended.The first person you hire to help you should be to handle what you LEAST like to do yourself or has the greatest time savings for you!

Any insights, advice, or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

We've not met in person yet, but know each other.

Can confirm Joseph is a real person