You can find online which larger institutions are buying in a specific area and try and reach out to them.

Hi Lina from Texas-Congratulations on your interest in investing in mid-term rentals and you are wondering how and where to get started.I get this question frequently from investors.Sometimes and investor is looking to keep their property cashflow positive as insurance and taxes have squeezed cashflow by turning units into mid-term or short-term rentals.First off, ideally, the property will cashflow as a long-term rental should something disrupt the mid-term rental model.You will also want to have the property be near where there would be a demand for mid-term rentals (hospitals, universities, research centers).Monthly rents for mid-term rentals are about 20% (+/-) higher than unfurnished similar long-term rentals.There are property managers that will manage mid-term rentals for you and I always advise my clients to use property managers to keep their investment as passive as possible and for compliance issues related to Fair Housing Laws and local regulations.To Your Success!

@Jorge Vazquez we stopped doing signs over 10 years ago.We had a separate phone number on our signs, so were able to track traffic & applications from them.We were getting more & BETTER leads from our online ads then the signs - so an easy choice to stop using them (also time & money savings).

Quote from @Michael Smythe: @Tuan Tran don't fall for all the hype about S8 by so called online "gurus"!

Diversifying geographically can also reduce risk and increase long-term returns.For example, there are several markets across the U.S. that are ideal for new investors because they offer affordable entry points, reliable cash flow, and strong economic fundamentals.

There is a cumbersome way to do it on paper forms, but you should not.The only sensible way is to submit your 1099s to the IRS online, however not directly with the IRS.

We did not do this and still encounter less than ideal setup the result of our initial setup many years ago.  

We like the short-term rental idea because we could stay at the property ourselves when we want - summer break, spring/winter breaks, etc.Our budget will be right around $1M or less ideally, and we would like a short distance to the ocean.How likely is it that we could find a property as described above and have it cover or come close to covering the mortgage? 

Dumb question - but are these auctions online only, or in-person? 

My recommendation would be to get approved as a Landlord, contact the director's office and request that an inspection be completed before a tenant is selected (sometimes they will do this as long as you select a tenant within 14 days - which you want anyways), and have an online application and screening resource in place.