Long term rental hold. 20+ years.In Texas, 2 story house with plywood upstairs. 

Gotta long way to go.

I want to do long-term rentals to section 8. 

I’ll take  a year or so to refinance those into a long term loan and then use their funds for a different property.

One in the SF Bay area that has been around a LONG LONG time is BAWB which stands for Bay Area Wealth Builders - they might be able to direct or assist you.

i have thought about this with a small short term rental area.

Why do you think purchase contracts are so long and have such small print?

I'm about to purchase a property for a short term rental and trying to figure out whether to hold the property in a newly formed LLC, trust or in my personal name. 

The only time we use ceramic tile is for showers with a window, where we can't use a surround, and then I will still use LVT for the bathroom floor.However, because we cater to families with kids, our winters are long and to avoid cabin fever we usually have a finished basement and carpet is the way to go.

I think as long your HOA and Lease Rent is not eating all your expected profit, then it may not be a bad deal, especially if you can turn it into a STR, you can definitely maximize the returns.