I'm not in that market so I can't speak specifically to it, but to me the deciding factor would be what the surrounding units and area has. 

Honestly I never know precisely, as I'm constantly buying and selling, and frankly I neither know or care.

I'm considering buying a small single family home near a hospital in the Midwest to turn into a MTR, and trying to decide if it's worth the investment to furnish vs. going straight to LTR.

From here you could decide if you want to stay on the passive side of things as an LP, or if you want to begin raising capital for your own deals / funds based on your track record of investing with other experienced operators and being part of the masterminds that you're in.

You can probably beat $2000/year insurance, but the management fee should be 10%, you need to factor in turnover too and 5% is probably not enough for both maintenance and turnover and I assume you added it, but you didn't mention property taxes (which have been terrible in Jackson County lately since Frank White decided to jack them through the roof). 

If so, it would make sense to figure that out first before deciding on a specific area.

Id say the main question here to decide if there is a conflict of interest.....is the person saying buy rentals....are they buying rentals themselves?

Here are a few quick FAQs that can help you decide how much you should prioritize staging as you prep for your move.What Is Home Staging?

You have received some great recommendations and if you are yet to decide on an Investor friendly to work with, you can send me a DM and see if we are a good fit.I do provide free mentorship and a lot of free resources and connections to anyone I work with especially beginners like you. 

In the end, the investor is responsible for making good, informed decisions and for knowing precisely what their needs are as investors.