But every other month we are at about $2000-3000 surplus.If we stay or buy a second home and rent 1st, the difference is about $1000 in our pockets.I don't want to make an untimely decision on buying home by missing some kind of interest rate change, based on short term financial struggles when 10's of 1000's of $$$'s could be made.

Rather than lock in a year lease I tried my hand at short term rentals considering the house was located near the beach in a tourist town, it just made sense.

To experienced investors, I'm a RN based in Fishers, spent the last two years traveling.  

I'm taking all of the expense percentages like 10% capex, 10% pm, 5% repairs and maintenance, 10% vacancy, $100 ish for home insurance based on my area, 0.7% for PMI based on my credit score, and then standard amounts for utilities, lawncare, and WiFi. 

A good realtor (which is sometimes hard to find) is a great resource to estimate current property value and ARV, however, remember that they are going to give their opinion based on what they see on the market.

I'm a Longmont based investor/agent and have been hosting a monthly REI meetup in Longmont for a few years now.

For you, choosing will be based on different things such as how steady the area is where your property is, your plans for investing over a long time and the state of your money matters.

I have met a lot of people but I have always wanted to start a group network in miami, which is where I am based.

You still have to know the pro forma rents though since literally nothing meets the 1% rule based on in place rents.

Or are you looking to rent short-term to tourists?