I've gotten into the habit of aways cleaning when I have a spare few minutes while cooking dinner or in the common spaces.

You find the deal and manage it, they finance it, you split the profits.In the meantime, you should be hustling to increase earnings, educating yourself on markets, analyzing deals in your spare time like it's your favorite hobby, networking with other investors on BiggerPockets or directly at investor meetups, telling everyone exactly what you are looking for, driving for dollars, etc.There are too many hustles to name them all.

Though by the sounds of it you don't have a lot of spare time, I would suggest attending some local REIA meetings (the general mtgs are usually free or very inexpensive) or meetups in your area to start networking, even if it means catching a meeting on the commute home and not necessarily in your home base.  

In my spare time I attend church, coach teeball, blog about teeball, and exercise.Just really glad to see the great interaction on this site.Tom

There are also a lot of cosmetic things that need to be done.I don't feel comfortable listing my spare bedroom right now as a STR because I really value my privacy and mainly because the house needs a lot of work done.Am I overlooking anything?

Given his SFH constraint, I keep looking for properties with an in-law suite or spare bedrooms set apart in such a way that we could rent out the extra space and have it pay 60-80% of our monthly mortgage without being bothered by the tenants.

I lived a very frugal life style and invested every spare penny.

They don't have a spare couple hundred bucks sitting around now after an amazing economic run, what happens after a few months or more of pay cuts or being laid off or being sick?

I try to have 1 renovation project going at any given time, and I do it in my spare time as well.

I'd love to get coffee w/ any active investors in the area who are willing to spare the time.