And going to eat up the rest of the savings pretty quickly buying in that area again. 

If you go into multiple units eventually it may be the easy button to do that.We use Bizcor which specializes in STR sites, but it may be overkill again as I think they cater to PM's.

Expecting the landlord to take the time to do a detailed check of the cleanliness and then do an a-la-carte cleaning is not a reasonable expectation, in my opinion.  

All the banks I've contacted so far only offer up to 75% LTV.  

Just get past this point, hit the reset button with a new PM.

I ask for previous landlord info but I personally have never called a previous landlord for all of the reasons @Kevin Sobilo mentioned. 

Look hard for potential start up cost to minimize overages.

Finding a capable and trustworthy co-host, only to dump them after a short period of time for tax reasons?

Hi Mike, This is not a new strategy many investors use this strategies as you can go up to 90% CLTV when applying for a primary Heloc allowing you to tap into more equity if you have it.

You can still get in at a reasonable price and the rents are high and taxes low.