That much cash gives strong power to leverage.I would use that to generate sweat equity on STRS buying 3 in the best performing market you can find, then use remaining cash and equity and leverage that into 3 STRs in another top performing market to diversify and spread risk.

Our fees are typically a pretty small percentage of the overall project cost so the sweat equity we can put into projects is only tipping the scale by 5% or so.

@Ned J. finding a good team def takes some blood, sweat, and tears lol. 

I mean the golden info in the podcasts coupled with action and some "luck" (luck is a dividend of sweat!)

The first house was mostly sweat equity (yes, we’re still married 😉), and we learned a ton.

You can put your sweat in to sweeten the pot.

I'm not giving out big deals until I know my agent is willing to sweat the small details and be responsive.  

Sticking to neighborhoods within convenient drive times is wise, especially if you plan on putting in a good amount of sweat equity. 

My goal is to buy and hold with doing a lot of sweat equity if I need to.

I'd go quiet and give them an opportunity to sweat.