You will need to find partners, you will need to travel to where you wish to invest, you will need to understand the ins and outs of the business by being actively involved and treating it like a business and not some super passive investment.If you don't want to do that work I suggest you just put that 200k into some sort of diversified mutual fund that can make you 10+% on your money without any of the work of real estate.At the end of the day this is just my advice and I'm only a stranger on the internet.

Even if it takes longer to pay off, having a steady, reliable tenant might actually be less stressful than managing an STR.FYI - consider starting with a regular rental but structuring it as a 6-12 month lease.

I'm an active-duty military (retiring soon).

I am actively looking to expand throughout the Caribbean. 

Active?

My bookkeeping practice pays me active income, so my priority is equity.For debt loans, you will see 10-15% annualized, depending on your experience as an operator.

Calling the appraiser to see what you can do to push it up a "C-Level" would be smart before doing any reno also, might only need a few things to make it far more valuable in the eyes of the bank.I've heard of a tactic for figuring out demand, which is to put up a dummy or coming soon listing on facebook marketplace and see the amount of activity you get on it. 

I'm not sure if I am prepared to buy a property in Columbus on my own, but I may be more interested as an active or passive partner. 

They say it’s too much stress, too many surprises, and not enough reward.

That way you know they are active in the BP community!