Here's an overly simple example of what a lender is afraid of...I buy a house from a motivated seller for $100k.

Sellers don’t yet have to take massive discounts…Unless they have unique motivations to do so.

You need to combine that with either DM, cold-calling, or door-knocking.Do you have any practice in listening for distress and motivation? 

The seller is very motivated and looking to give out favorable terms. 19 units in total, the multi-families currently operate as short-term vacation rentals.

Not sure if this motivates you or scares you but I always bought properties with my last pennies in the bank lol because cash is bad for me but tenants will send checks to me after closing.

@Roger PoindexterYour questioning of your previous and current motives as it pertains to chasing dollars for consumption is fine; many people are not getting the satisfaction from material possessions that they thought they would.

I have a motivated and reliable contractor lined up and responsive lender already.

I think I may have found a property for the hack about 3 miles from me and the price on Zillow shows the it has been reduced from $199,000 to $90,000 so it appears that they are motivated.

It's not about being on the sidelines, but instead it is about finding a motivated seller, negotiating a solid price, and structuring the financing so it remains accretive to the overall investment.I'm curious, @LaMancha Sims, are you on the sidelines or still buying? 

Perhaps I misjudged some comments and their motive but my only point to @Emily K. was don't give up and yes you can do it.The only reason I even mentioned me owning property was not to say I know more than someone else, rather it was to lend credibility to my argument that people who own property and do STR also do arbitrage and it does in fact work (at least for me).