I am a local agent here in SLO and also own an investment property in the area.

BRRRR is hard enough if you are local, IDK how some people do this remotely.

Local Market: Investing in your local market can be advantageous because you're familiar with the area, which can make property management easier.

I am also trying to replace my salary with cash flow so that I can just spend my day teaching people how to fly at my local airport. 

Upon seeing this name again, I looked it up online and found that the person it belonged to had a number of articles from our local news station for a number of crimes, to include forgery, identity theft, impersonation, etc. 

I have been reaching out to potential sellers for the past few weeks in my local market.

If it’s Amazon they have the option to have the packages delivered to lock boxes at local stores, delivered to their work, or pick them up at certain locations.

You might try and look locally for portfolio loan or DSCR loan.

I'm currently a buy and hold investor (utilizing various househacks), but I'm hoping to get into the STR space end of this year/early next year.In terms of your financing options, here are some things that come to mind (albeit may or may not apply to your situation):- Utilize second-home loan option (10% downpayment) if the property qualifies- Utilize a small local bank to see what loan options they may offer (perhaps some may have experience lending on STR?

I recommend a more organic approach of meeting other local investors, genuinely taking an interest in what they're doing, and genuinely trying to help them succeed.