Or if it was just listed I wouldn’t be surprised if the seller receives multiple offers above asking 

Try a company called ilovescottsdale.comThey are responsive and have flat STR fees with no hidden surprise fees.

This is not surprising, as people are also earning a very good income in plumbing supplies, accounting services, and smoothies shops.  

I'm always surprised on BP, when questions are posed, I have a house I bought for X, it's now worth Y, should I keep it as a rental? 

I am surprised that you can cancel the contract.

I would just keep that in mind as you network.Try to do deals for yourself if you haven't already, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what that does for your career :)  Hope this helps!

Every distressed property (assuming you want to add value) has surprises. 

I'm a first time landlord and all of this is still new to me, and I've done a lot of research, but I always run into unexpected things like this.

I had 8k of unexpected expenses in the first 6 months of ownership.

You can rent out a second home as an AIRBNB or VRBO and also transition it into a permanent rental in a short period of time.You mentioned talking to multiple people and it does not surprise me as the bank/lending industry is full of new comers, loan officers with no investor options or lack of knowledge.