I was told I’d need to have a reliable contractor in my pocket, when I go to apply for the loan, as they’ll look heavily at his track record.

I have had a tenant in the home for a few years - very reliable.

I would it can be done, and that it is crucial to develop your Core Four. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...Have you found a reliable, consistent and skilled Deal finder, Property Manager, Contractor and Lender?

If rehabs are not an ongoing thing at your company it would make more sense to find a team of reliable sub's than to develop your own in-house team.  

It simply is not the fault of the tenant that they no longer manufacture the same color, and I don't think a court would disagree should it get to that level.Depending on how reliable and easy to work with the tenant has been, I would probably let it go.

Just not reliable enough for me.SimplifiMoneyhttps://www.quicken.com/simplifi/Oliviahttps://www.olivia.ai/aboutYou Need A Budget (YNAB)https://www.youneedabudget.com/Spendeehttps://www.spendee.com/MoneySpirehttps://www.moneyspire.com/Qapitalhttps://www.qapital.com/CountAbouthttps://countabout.com/Nerd Wallethttps://apps.apple.com/us/app/nerdwallet/id1174471607Money Treehttps://getmoneytree.com/au/app/aboutGood Budgethttps://goodbudget.com/Budgeting & Short Term Planning (cash flow)Pocket Smithhttps://www.pocketsmith.com/features/Does more than just personal budgeting by providing some amount of cash flow forecasting, but not great for long term planning.CertainCentshttp://www.certaincents.com/Does more than just personal budgeting by providing some amount of cash flow forecasting, but not great for long term planning.Retirement PlanningBanktivityhttps://www.banktivity.com/Maybe this “does it all”?

Provided you have a good cleaning company and reliable handyman, it will be worth your time.

Should I be getting these numbers elsewhere, and if so where is the most reliable source of info?

Since people booking places along a highway are normally just looking for a place to lay their head for a night, they are primarily looking for inexpensive but reliable which means you would be competing more directly with the tons of inexpensive hotel chains along the highway.

Consolidating the drivers and ranking in order of importance:Location/MarketTenant PoolInvestment TeamSpecific PropertyI will not go into detail on each driver but I will mention some important considerations.Location - the most important investment decisionThe location determines long-term passive income reliability, inflation adaptability, operating cost, risk, and the total capital required to grow your portfolio.