If I had to choose, I would lean towards option 1, I like the idea of having a dedicated person that at least knows my name and is familiar with my properties and can help "keep an eye on them".

@Shyam Subramanyan if you are not a “real estate professional” in the eyes of the IRS, you cannot use added depreciation to offset your W-2 income.

Have your eyes wide open - your first few buy close to home so understand the process.

Many buyers hang out there.3) Consider cold calling or emailing agents who work with cash buyers or reach out to title companies→ they often have contacts.4) Promote your deals on social media platforms to get more eyes on them.Keep up the momentum and shoot me a message if you need any help refining your strategy!

Thank you Ned, that is exactly right, we actually check a condo/townhouse about 2 weeks ago, the thing was a condo with a basement, I cannot tell if it was a condo or townhome, anyway, the ceiling in the first floor was bowing, the 2nd floor, one of the bedroom was sinking, could not tell how this damage was done but the walls came apart from the floor, you could see the roof of the unit bowing inwards towards the structure a bit, and their "general contractor" estimate that for 5k they could straighten the property and level everything, even 1 window and 1 door looked so uneven that you would think  there was something wrong with your eyes...5k for structural damage, good luck with that one, we ran as far as we could from that....but we have seen they do inflate their ARV, since we learned the hard way , we go through these deals with a magnifying glass, I knew I was not so picky, numbers do not lie.Another thing that caught my attention, which I do not know if I am overly suspicious now that I am older, but they want to get the closing for us at the same time/day they are getting the property from whoever they buying it, which it seems to me they try to save on the closing by having a "dual" closing when in reality is just 1 closing and we are the one paying for it...I do not know there are few things that do not click right with this folks.

Things to keep an eye out for?

Consider posting in the STR forum, for more eyes on your question.  

I am also keeping an eye out for just rentals. 

First time home buyers compete with us investors and they are often blue-eyed in terms of how much work a property needs.

It is more about having a eye catching unique landing page, which is the same function that the categories/unique stays provided.