In short: Take your time crunching the numbersReally get to know the area by staying in a few STRs yourself to find out what does/does not work as guestsInterview a ton of cleaners (they will make/break your STR)Talk to as many realtors & officials as you can about current/pending STR regulationsThe last thing you want after finding that dream place is to find out a pending regulation just passed the day after you closed banning or placing additional burden on an already high overhead sector.Good luck in the hunt and feel free to reach out with any other questions along the way!

I started crunching numbers, got a local agent who also owned STRs in the area, talked to a few local business owners about the tourism, and within a month I bought my first property.  

Numbers need to be crunched to be sure. 

I've crunched so many numbers with where the current market rent is that most of these properties don't make sense unless I put some work into them (which I'm totally okay with!)

I would be crunching some numbers around the cost of Mortgage Insurance vs putting that extra $20k down though if you aren't completely depleting your reserves by spending the extra $20k. 

Crunch the numbers to see if upfront savings on a property purchase made in this fashion may cost you more in the end.All the best!

Recently though, as I was looking at deals and going through the pretend number crunching, I found a deal that I couldn't pass up.

For instance Section-8 owners may not feel as much crunch as "working tenant Class-C" owners.Or some cities (or sections of cities) may be harder hit than others.This is such a huge national problem, I think we will just have to wait and see how it turns out.https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaharziv/2020/08/08/trump-issues-executive-orders-as-coronavirus-stimulus-talks-falter-extends-unemployment-benefits-at-400-per-week-protects-against-evictions-defers-student-loan-payments-suspends-payroll-tax/#5302067e52d4Just my 2 cents.

I strongly suggest you stop talking about ideas, and start crunching numbers.In general, the only time it makes sense to take out a reverse mortgage is if you hate your grandkids/heirs, or if you are coming from a place of financial desperation (if you're otherwise about to become homeless, fine, I get it, do what you gotta do...). 

That's when I start really crunching numbers, looking at property condition, and really start doing due diligence.