That’s before factoring in utilities or each personal situation.

Furnished Finder does make it tricky since you need separate profiles for each room, but platforms like Apartments.com or Airbnb might work better if you're aiming for full-house rentals or structured by-the-room arrangements.If you decide to rent to multiple individuals:Tenant Screening: Screen each tenant thoroughly to ensure they’re reliable and responsible.Clear Communication: Introduce potential tenants to one another Detailed Agreements: Use separate leases for each tenant and specify shared vs. private spaces, utilities, and maintenance responsibilities.House Rules: Create clear, written house rules to prevent misunderstandings.Inventory Tracking: Document everything in the home (furniture, appliances, etc.) to avoid disputes about damage or missing items.Also, market your property with its flexibility in mind—like proximity to hospitals for traveling nurses or universities for graduate students.

We use a custom lease that has evolved over more than a decade to protect us and the property owners.

There were issues syncing the reservation calendar, and it is nearly impossible to reach a customer support representative with Booking.com as an individual STR owner.

They get paid to do it, and you could be the next customer. 

@Chirag Mehta For construction costs, you should be around +/- $100 PSF which would include all sitework, utilities, and going vertical with modern finishes.  

As for the refi side, DSCRs are an excellent tool to utilize as they are based off the property, not you as the borrower, so no DTI hits / personal income verification required.

For example, in some cases even when the home is livable a seller might turn off utilities on a vacant house to save money.

Like you said in your post, "Buying and holding is a long term strategy...............focus on the end goal"The second reason for trying to get good deals is that if you can get a 10-20% built in equity off the bat, it has the advantage of:- taking a big part of the risk factor off the table- built in equity that can be utilized as required- better cash flowThere are a lot of people on BPs that say that "money is made on the front end in RE".

Damage after deposit, legal charge, skip out, unpaid utilities lists go forever.... and of course eviction process takes at least 60~90 days here while lawyers are asking $600 to just start with the case.