-YESAs someone who's done numerous owner finance and subject-to deals, I can attest to their value.

Are you dealing with the City or County?

There are tons and tons of deals in PR for cash buyers and partnerships if that is something you would consider.

Focus on creating profitable deals. 

Sometimes we do that to secure a deal if it's a deal breaker, but we don't typically visit the houses.

They launch a podcast, they try to get as many podcast appearances, they post about their deals here and on LinkedIn, or if they have never done a deal, they post about other topics people might find interesting.  

I'd reduce the size of your units and stick more to 1 bed and 2 bed than what you have the numbers aren't really looking good on this deal. 

Yes, you have more than one option: You could definitely look for private money, but if you are planning on keeping it as a STR, you might want to make them your partners in the deal.

Personally I see money orders as a pain to deal with both for the tenant and for myself by adding unnecessary steps. 

When dealing with service providers, you can easily be shocked if you did not discuss pricing upfront, and even if you did you could easily be shocked - LOL.What you needed was a letter of engagement spelling out the fees that will or may be incurred - in detail.