I have tried to do my due diligence on the company and founders and it appears to be legitimate - but I could be missing some things.

It's not easy though and you'll need to really do your due diligence if you decide to go that route.

I went out to do some due diligence meeting at Summit Capital.

Depending on your loan structure I'm not even sure you could legally offer a personal guarantee outside of the loan for that money without committing mortgage fraud, as anything that could hinder the ability of the primary lender to recover their principal is supposed to be declared during their diligence period, and any material changes up to the point of taking the loan are supposed to be disclosed as well.

Just make sure to do your due diligence, get second opinions on the rehab work, and double-check the financials to ensure it makes sense.

Looking into the STR market, i would suggest a couple things to include into your property search. 1) the STR market is very saturated here so look for something unique or offer unique amenities to your guests, this will help your property stand out 2) different set of rules for properties located within city limits vs without i.e. outside city limits doesn’t require a permit which the city is cracking down on the amount of STRs on any given street or neighborhood 3) HOA is a big deterrence as a lot of HOAs don’t want any rentals of less than 30 days so an in depth search into covenants and by laws would be doing your due diligence.

What are some recommendations for preliminary title searches for due diligence.

Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊

I love your due diligence.

There's nothing like getting your feet wet and just diving into it and learning along the way, as long as you don't lose an arm and a leg in the process ;) you will grow so much with this experience and learn to do more due diligence in the future.