But to answer your question, House canary is good for rent rates, zillow is a good tool for property data and for seeing what is for rent for how much, sales comps etc. 

Purchase price: $115,000 Cash invested: $42,000 Sale price: $168,000 Unfortunately, we bought this property as a buy and hold property, and our research led us to believe that this neighborhood was up and coming not in a bad area of Jacksonville.

I figured now would be a good time to jump in, introduce myself, and ask for advice.

While it seems like there are some better priced deals lately, you may have to be prepared to put down 30-40% down.I'd say due to the lack of homes for sale, you should be open to many if not most cities depending on the deal that comes up. 

I don't figure the note will be more than  300 a month at only 40k principal.

  - Expectations: At any given time along the entire Oregon Coast there are roughly 125+/- worthwhile STR eligible properties listed for sale.

Raising money is all about marketing and sales (not real estate specific) so either hire marketing agency and read sales books, or hop on some LinkedIn courses on marketing and sales.Not sure the legal structure to use: talk to accountants and attorneys.Need deal flow: talk to brokers and go to a lot of networking events.Lending terms: start calling banks and loan brokers.From there, it is all risk mitigation. 

If this property is hard to rent, or is functionally obsolescent (only 1 bathroom, no yard, etc), or has deferred maintenance that will be costly, or is in a location that is not appealing to Tenants, then maybe a sale would be a good option in favor of a property that has better Tenant appeal, which will likely increase rent and avoid long vacancies in between Tenants.An option to consider....

Talking to others also gave me insight into different markets and strategies, which made it easier to figure out where I wanted to focus my efforts.A simple tip I’d give is to start small and grow gradually.

Right now, the average two-family sale in Stamford is $818K—and that’s not even for a newly finished one.Good luck if this opportunity is still around.