That's comforting.With regards to the options for arbitrage, as you mentioned the CD is quite negative, so I think I would table that one.

Banks tend to not bring that up in conversation so you bring even more money to the table but it is common place.

Financing intimidates me a bit, I think mostly because I’m not bringing a W-2 to the table. 

Of course, if the property is in less than great condition, an increase in reserves is required.Now, my question is how much money may I be leaving on the table by not investing in STR instead?

I prefer ordering counter service vs waiting on mediocre table service in a climate where restaurants are understaffed.

You should not be using someone else's prices (or Kukun's algorithm), you should be using your own prices from your local contractors and using the specific material selections you picked for your project.Here's an example of how bad some of the data is in Kukun and why it's not practical for investors that are wanting to create accurate estimates for their projects:I just added "Exterior Doors" to my project, and I was told that 4 single doors and 1 double door is $59,352 in Kansas City, MO which is 20x what I would actually pay as an investor.I believe the above was a bug, but nonetheless there was no way for me to fix this issue or understand why or how it was calculating this value.In summary, you don't need a fancy algorithm to tell you what something costs, you just need to know basic math and have a general understanding of how much materials cost and what contractors charge for specific repairs.For example, if I have 5 exterior doors I need replaced (4 single entry doors, 1 french patio door) this is how I would estimate the costs:- Single exterior doors labor 4 x $250/each = $1,000- Single door material 4 x $300/each = $1,200- French patio door labor 1 x $400/each = $400- French patio door material 1 x $750/each = $750Total = $3,350Add 25% profit for your contractor and the quote should be around $5k for 5 doors.The hard part is finding out what your contractors charge, after that it's just basic math that you can do in a spreadsheet.

If you're handy with a router and table saw, you could do it yourself.

You should get the matching bedside table and have lamps on bedside tables for reading.

I buy rental properties and improve them and they happen to be in an opportunity zone and I was just making sure I wasn’t leaving any money or opportunities on the table. 

Most of our friends find these, now coffee table books, interesting.