Another strategy involves a hard money loan for a short-term down payment (bridge loan), followed by refinancing with conventional financing later.

Hello everyone,I have some questions about STR (Short-Term Rentals) and would greatly appreciate your help.

I have a duplex under contract and we are in the inspection period now.

Dont suppose I'll get it...again, i've never done a real estate deal other than purchasing my house over a decade ago. without experience there's just so much i dont know.networking is a sore spot, i'm just not a people person. thats one reason i look at real estate. since i plan to have any properties managed, i wont have to deal with a lot of people. i imagine you'll scold me for this but whatever. i'm never going to be a people person and thats set in stone. it's something i have to work around not overcome.It seems I always get to the same point with real estate where I take the safe and easy route and leave my $ invested in the stock market. the thing that appeals to me about re, and i'm more focusing on rentals, non b&b, is steady income with an appreciating underlying asset. whereas the market is up and down. i can get totally safe 5% from short term bonds, but i know my principle is withering away from inflation (i dont believe the gubt bogus 3% cpi). with a rental house i could get 5% rental income, and the house will appreciate ~5% a year. that's a huge difference. the other thing i'm somewhat interested in is flips, but same story there, i just dont have the knowledge, and all the reading this forum or watching yt's in the world only gets to the surface as it's all airy generalities.

There are two different 2-yr periods: you need to own it for 2 years and use it for 2 years as your primary residence.

(Also, anyone with experience in short-term rentals isn't looking to partner with a newbie anyway.)And like everyone said, check STR laws.

You look at the calendar to see if it's booked up or long periods of vacancy.

I'd love to hear your opinions on good ways to find tenants that are reliable in the 30 plus day rental time period. 

Next it will all come down to the numbers for the deal to really confirm 80%-90% LTC/LTV on purchase, 100% of rehab (funded in draws) not to exceed 65-75% ARV (depending on the lender, most are 70-75% ARV) Kiavi is a great lender, but it comes at no surprise as their internal credit analysis throws me for a loop sometimes (and shocks me, as very qualified borrowers sometimes still don't make it through that analysis)In short, you simply need to connect with the right lenders and each will have varying rates, costs, fees, etcBill Fay referenced the Hard Money Lenders link here on BP which is a great direct resource! 

Someone in the area short term to be by family, in a training program, relocating with a profession  with potential in you area?