I'm particularly interested in cash flow + long-term appreciation, but I'm also open to short-term gains if the opportunity is right.Any insights, personal experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Using their in house lenders can help substantially with loan terms. 

Do you focus on short term occupation?

Would love to find a short term rental in the Catskills….

For example, if your rental was located in the Fort Worth, TX area (Tarrant County in general) I would also recommend Resdoor https://resdoor.com/ to see what they have in terms of doors.

,I'd be happy to help and would more than welcome a preliminary conversation, and even be willing to generate a hypothetical term sheet for what you're looking to accomplish. 

I have tried to find this info online with no success.

., because it is short term, 30 days or less. 

Cook County Property Tax Incentives: Cook County has a tax incentive program that allows projects to receive a special property classification for a 12 year period that lowers annual property taxes by as much as 50% through the term of the incentive program.

I've generally only looked at local banks for local apartment buildings, and Chase also has often had good terms.