Others may disagree, but I would highly recommend paying off all of our debt and increasing your savings rate before investing. 

I am thinking if we bought it for my mom it would be with the understanding that we wont make anything on it until we resell it in a few years, looking at rent in the area it wouldnt cash flow if we were to rent anything out with the current rates.

Also, remember that interest rates are also negotiable, and the seller gets all the money from the interest. 

(Quoted about 8.5% rate on a DSCR loan, and budgeting 10% of rents for capex, 9% for PM, and 5% each for vacancy and maintenance) After-rehab rents would be about 1350-1500 based on comps.

This program is also winning on our weekly interest rate survey at the moment.Here is an example of a loan summary put together for a client last week.

Rates will be in the 5's right now.

There are markets that are very saturated with STR and with vry bloated prices and high interest rates it could be impossible to turn a profit at all. 

@Jon Thomson You didn’t mention what your current mortgage rate was but no sense paying down or paying off a low rate mortgage just to then borrow from the same property at a much higher rate.

Looking to get into my first STR in the next few months out in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge/Gatlinburg area(s)....I understand getting average daily rates, occupany rates, mortgage, saving for maintenance/CapEx.

From what I quickly read in the link above, seems like you just need to have a bank account that is govt insured and earning interest, doesnt have to have the tenants name on it, but you need to inform the tenant of account and rate the account is receiving.