I just see tons of short term rentals coming on the market here. 

While you are not required to have a property manager for your long-term rental (short term is a different story), you can only handle administrative functions such as making phone calls, paying bills, selecting a contractor, etc. and must be completely hands off. 

Then later today the investor chose to include me in a group text he has created with other people on the road leading to the housing project about how great of a victory it is that he’s gotten the dumpster moved and that he will be cleaning up the space and planting grass and greening it up come summer.

Long story short, we ended locking in a 4.75% on a 30 FRM, got $18,000 in concessions, and another $10,000 off the last contract price. 

I just purchased my first investment property in Fletcher, NC (about 20 min outside Asheville) which I plan to use as a short term rental.

If not, you would need to structure a creative deal by purchasing subject to the existing mortgage.And if taking over the mortgage is not worthwhile due to the condition of the property, your last option would be a short sale.Before structuring a creative deal, make sure you are guided by someone who has done it before.

Bridges are short term, typically 6-18 months. 

Here in our market, we see the SECT 8 vouchers out pacing the number of available units which leads to shorter turn windows. 

I am also getting leads where the person is saying they prefer to pay by card. 

My goal is to get good cash flow and  possibly flip short term to cash out.