Our RTA and LTB are extremely pro tennat so you must avoid having to rely on the system to protect you from bad tenants.

I just want to try out STR at some point because that will be my primary weapon of choice to get a place in Maui paid off by vacationers, and would rather have some experience doing it first.

I pulled it up in Memphis and to be fair, the houses look horrible and the areas are bad. 

“Is it a bad idea...?”

Also, if im going to move forward with this, would I still need to work with an agent of my choice or will builders generally already be partners with a firm?

If it's a bad deal, then yes, I could see a need for all the fluff to convince a green investor to buy it. 

If you are patient, the buy and hold strategy works in good or bad times.

Renovation is about 1k more then I had anticipated (which isn't bad).

Your results aren't bad for only sending 200-300 per month.

Today is bad, please reach out tomorrow if possible.