The 2nd person really liked the house and even mentioned how nice the rehab was, relative to comparables they have seen.

I am curious though, in hindsight, how does an investment in STR in Hawaii in 2012 would compare with other markets over this period of time despite all the regulation headwinds?

HUD and Agency financing is another beast compared to conventional or non-bank lending (Secondary Market).

Just don't make the mistake of comparing what someone else profits on a role, to decide whether your compensation is sufficient or not. 

Confirm that the warranty applies to the type of property you own and consider whether the annual cost and service call fees make sense compared to just handling repairs yourself or using your own trusted contractors.

They will do things like compare with public records/Internet records.

The two examples you need to compare are: 1.

Any kind of non QM financing will have higher closing costs compared to conventional.

Most everything in Cleveland seems like an awesome deal when you compare it to the pricing you've seen in NYC.

If dropping your rate $100 below others at comparable offerings in your target market kills your cashflow, you may be in too tight of a deal anyhow.