There was much talk in our local STR group about turning one into an STR but with some quick due diligence we found the costs to move it to be astronomical. 

I want to ensure I am doing/showing my due diligence in the process, and I don't want to seem like I am passing the buck onto the private investor.

Real estate changes so rapidly that we all must be diligent about keeping up with those changes.

If you want to scale your business excel is just not a feasible long term option especially when it comes to follow up appointments, diligent note taking, recording phone calls, tracking deal stages etc.  

So I've  been so diligent in my study of real estate investing for the previous 3 months or so and have wanted to get into real estate since I was 16.

Tiffani makes a great point about getting eyes-on-the-ground before investing in a new area - it's key to the due diligence process.  

These tenants are bad news, bite the bullet and learn from this experience in how you conduct due diligence prior to purchasing your next investments property 

But they / we are pro's we don't need hand holding we are paying cash we do our own due diligence etc etc.... one must look at the whole picture.

Their information is not always accurate, and I don't believe they scrub phone numbers that are on the Do Not Call Registry (although their information is public) so do your due diligence!

Need to do your due diligence as with any investment.