It’s a short dead end road so I have this notion to own the whole street and control the look and quality of the neighborhood . 

I get quicker responses, guidance, relationship building, more trust, and overall feel like their quality is a lot better in terms of inventory/customer service.

@Joy McQuearyRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Plus, it gives you more control over quality and timelines.

However The barrier to entry in the REI teaching business is very low and a lot of bad players join the game.What you describe led me to come up with Ned's Rule of Gurus.The quality of an REI course is inversely proportional to the price

If you ask nicely and promise not to share, you can usually get good financial information on the properties that are currently operating as a STR.If you're just starting out looking, you may not be aware of just how many cabins out there are poor quality builds due to the lack of codes.

Take for example the lack of productivity where construction projects often experience time and cost overruns, rework or quality concerns. 

You haven't given many details so it's difficult to give you a quality answer for your situation.

That could mean poor tenant quality, which could lead to them not paying or eviction.

Buy good quality things once rather than poor quality and pay multiple times to replace it.