I was only in it for 4 months and it all went smoothly as planned.

That's again, no maintenance, no vacancy, no bad tenants, not living in it yourself, all runs smoothly. 

Consult a Grant Writer:If you're unfamiliar with the grant application process, consider hiring a professional grant writer who specializes in real estate development or affordable housing projects.

I have started with PeerStreet and the functionality is smooth. 

Depending on the area of the STR, another possible upside would be owning in an area that has different market fundamentals and may still perform even in contraction stages of the RE cycle.Having said the above, there is a learning curve to running a short term rental, and my experience has been, that there is also a period of getting the property running smoothly and getting reviews before it is running at its peak.

I think you should buy the property next door to his house and use it as an Air BNB until you decide to move there.And in your counter claim to his law suit ask for a per cent of the take he will get when he does the "I was a con man, and now I am reformed and will tell you how to avoid being taken by a smooth talking con"  series of videos and conferences...since you are helping him come clean.

Once you’re mortgage free, it’s all smooth sailing.

Again, this is after the property is 6 months or older and running smoothly. 

And given his significant experience, he has a great team and systems in place to make everything run smoothly.

My contractor assigned a project manager and everything went smoothly.