As a backup, you should also make sure that you have the extra income from your job(s) to pay the LOC and protect your house.

Many national STR PM companies working on a percentage of gross income (Daily rates + cleaning fees) charge an elevated cleaning fee.

Unless you specified it in your management agreement that he only pays you certain amount per month, you are entitled to see the cost of maintenance since they influence your rental income.

I suggest making a cash flow play for your first investment, but if you have a high income already, it may make sense to aim for appreciation. 

DSCR loans won't use your income to underwrite the loan.

In terms of cash reserves outside of that we don't have anything substantial saved (our savings went to the earnest money) so our priority is to pay down the HELOC and increase income.

They benefit by having a year lease with guaranteed income.

Hey Harshraj, I use Zillow Rental Manager, you can setup automatic rent collection and the rental income is easy to track.

Renting per room can indeed maximize your earnings by allowing you to have multiple tenants contributing to your rental income.

Start with thorough due diligence on the investment property and consider factors like location, market trends and potential for rental income.