If you wants to find a property in Nashville you should define your investment goals, research the market, choose a location, assess your budget and financing options, choose a particular type of property, become acquainted with local regulations, network with professionals, conduct thorough property search and due diligence, think about one’s long-term investment strategy and assess risks and opportunities.You can locate a good home in Nashville by taking these steps and consulting with knowledgeable local consultants.Good luck!

Of course site specific details could change my take above, but based on what you shared you need to buy a SFR in the two allowable areas above in order to obtain a STR permit. 

Based on your assessment of the spread, if it makes sense, then jump in and make an offer but try to push the settlement date back as far as possible to give you enough time to come up with a detailed execution plan for turning the property back into market. 

I chose to start with SFH just because I felt it won't be overwhelming and with it, any mistakes I make won't be that fatal.I am based in MA and looking to invest in MA and neighboring states as NH, RIOne other question I have is - what does it mean to get my finances tied up and ready to go?

@Ryan Annoh not sure what you mean by "meetup group" as you can search on Meetup.com for those.Recommend you look into; Oakland REIA, MREI, Wayne REIA and Renegade Detroit Investors.

Usually you get a long term loan from a conventional lender like a DSCR loan that is based on the property income.

After a brief search, the IRS says-For tax years 2018 through 2025, if home equity loans or lines of credit secured by your main home or second home are used to buy, build, or substantially improve the residence, interest you pay on the borrowed funds is classified as home acquisition debt and may be deductible, subject to certain dollar limitations.

I was also told that the LLC interest has to be divided based on the capital contribution and cannot be divided based on the work, for example it can't be a 50/50 partnership if one puts all the money and the other does all the work.Any additional insight or leads would be helpful!

Within a month she claimed mold was making her sick & said she had pics which were later admitted by her as being from a Google search. 

IF however you want to generate leads or traffic to the website, SEO(search engine optimization) becomes quite important.