It also gave me the chance to experiment with short-term rentals before transitioning to a long-term hold, reinforcing my strategy for growing a real estate portfolio.

Its a fairly common strategy.

There are a few strategies you might consider to accelerate things.One option is a cash-out refinance.

Just because the deal may not fit our criteria, there are many other syndicators that will.I finally decided to make that data available to other sponsors that easily makes up for the time/effort that goes into it.

What’s your strategy ?

This in turn will kill your exit strategy if you are not doing your due diligence and playing conservative.

The other tip I would say is really get a good relationship going with a realtor in the area if you do not have one to give you the exact data you are looking for to be successful.

Especially the ones where I had doubters saying it couldn't be done or my strategy was wrong.What's next? 

I'm an investor and realtor located in the area and happy to chat ideas & strategies and see how I can help. 

Are you adjusting your strategy as rents decline?