At some point you have to accept that your first attempt may not be perfect, but if you set some guidelines and narrow your focus down to something that's achievable you should be on your way pretty quickly.

After refinancing we were able to achieve $628 per month.

Yes, there are nightmare stories but the majority of investors don't have problems - the ones who bought going way back to the 1970's and 80s and those that got deals in 2008 (and didn't sell in panic and have to foreclose) have achieved incredible appreciation and wealth.

I think the expenses are light.If you want to achieve market rents, no central air is going to be an issue.

You can adjust those rewards by adjusting your purchase price based on what returns you are trying to achieve.

Which is more quickly achieved?

Leverage the upcoming meetup to find others that have done what you're looking to do as well as a lender that can give you a personalized playbook to achieve your goals in most effective manner. 

But it can make things fairer, more liberty centric and that will always achieve the best VALUE in market available. 

Many people that reach out don't have the 50% down to even achieve this option.  

It consistently achieves 95-100% occupancy as a short-term rental, with nightly rates ranging from $350 to $550, generating substantial cash flow.