Then a traditional rental once you move out, assuming you will rent the whole house.

You don't have to tweak much to take a traditional LTR lease and make it fit an MTR or month-to-month setup.

Typically they are not eligible for traditional financing which implies other funding sources (HML, private Monet, self funded, etc).  

Most of the guys I know of that are really doing a lot of work outside of traditional routes are so busy they don't have time to come around here and toot their horns. 

But if you look into their marketing, socials, Youtube, IG, past sales record on Zillow and stuff you can see if they really are in the investment space or if they work with traditional homeowners.

If you’re close to $150,000 in AGI, a few ways you can bring that down AGI is by maxing out a 401k traditional ($23k for 2024 tax year), maxing out your HSA ($4,150 for 2024 tax year), and if you have any capital losses from stocks (up to $3k per year), I would encourage you to have great bookkeeping to ensure you’re capturing all of your deductions appropriately on your rental property.

If traditional banks aren't providing favorable terms, consider alternative lenders like HML or PML.  

STRs are difficult for a traditional LTR PMC to properly manage!

I just have no idea how the contracts work, financing options outside traditional, etc. would love some help.

I do not recall any other fees or charges outside of traditional closing costs and they were easy to work with and communicated very well.