You'll get a feel for the age of the neighborhoods, the vitality of the commercial buildings, the ease of location, the closeness to jobs.The markets you're describing are more linear, and usually have lower capital appreciation.

MTRs fall into the standard long term rental( 30 day +) category and will follow those regulations set for Long term rentals.

I'm here in the Tampa Florida area too...

Occasionally I catch some cleanliness issued that I am not satisfied with which I believe is due to variability in attention to detail between people on their crew, or lack of training and familiarity with my property.I've seen mentions of the value of post cleaning pictures from hosts on other forums.

My elderly grandfather owned a two-family home in the area, but over the years, the property had fallen into neglect.

Quote from @Dennis McNeely: In a sandwich lease option, the investor exercises their option with the property owner to purchase the property when the tenant-buyer indicates they're ready to exercise their option and purchases the property.

Originally posted by @Tanweer K.

Show up at as many local meetups as you can to possibly meet the right seller, lender, or partner. 

@Melanie Alzugray Welcome to the forums.

@Ashly FrassoRenting by the room can be a profitable but complex model.