Facebook groups are great for people asking about furnished homes to rent due to relocations etc.I would say getting reviews is your main priority right now so if you can price slightly under your nearest comps to build these up it will help you in the long run. 

That consists of buying a single family home with some form of separate living space to rent out as a STR and help offset living expenses.The DownsideLenders Calculate STR/MTR Rental Income Differently- From a lender's perspective, any rental income received on a term less than 12 months is NOT calculated the same way a traditional long term rental is.

Most states would recognize this and help you out.

BP has various tools to help you analyze your deals (rentals, flips, wholesale, etc). : https://www.biggerpockets.com/investment-calculators7.

This may help you figure out an optimal down payment percentage that may be somewhere between the 3.5% and the 40% that could give you a higher CoC return.

I can't help with that.Regarding insurance, you will need a STR policy.

For example, collecting three months of rent upfront helped you avoid missed rent, but even that could have backfired if they missed more than three payments.

The amount of new apartments buildings I have seen go up within the last 2 years and the transformation that my own neighborhood has gone through in the last 3 years has been a rapid change in my opinion.

I am trying to establish a framework here to help me scale.

That helped fill the gap between FHA and 20% down programs.