Not only can they handle risk management, but they also excel in marketing, optimizing the guest experience (leading to positive reviews and referrals), and leveraging technology such as booking platforms and pricing tools.

This also leads owners to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.

i'd pick a market close by, or that you have a personal connection to, or that you visit often.chasing cash flow by itself can lead to negative outcomes - for example, these investors bought in supposed "cash flow" markets:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1215726-break...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...hope this helps.

This being said, I don't believe we'll be able to meet the income requirements to qualify for a conventional.This leads me to believe hard money or private lender is more the only option to get my foot in the door, use my business to make repairs at very good rates, build some equity then refi once the balloon is due. 

Any thoughts or investor leads are greatly appreciated!

And definitely follow @Nathan Gesner's lead on that advice! 

By providing the necessary funding and covering renovation expenses, we ensured the project stayed on track and within budget, leading to a profitable outcome.

We are currently at a low affordability rate, which is typically a leading indicator of slowdown and price trend change.

You are rushing and that can lead to a first property mistake.

Sometimes it’s the small steps that lead to the biggest leaps.