Prepayment penalties- usually 1-5 year terms.

All good markets to get started in as long as you have a good team in place.

How long have you been self managing?

Mid term why did the market swing?  

I’ve been thinking going the second home/ mid term/ str route. another thought I have is venture further into a rental property but I know with rates, finding a deal that would cash flow would be tough. 

I am not in Military so my knowledge of Va is limited based off how long you have to live there, if you can refinance into regular loan later on once you have some equity etc.

The best sponsors build their reputations and investor base on long-term performance and trust.

I'm  Bethany from New Jersey, just learning and breaking into real estate investing and hopeful to purchase my first short term rental property within the next 6 months.   

Anything is helpful, in term of the services you use, your client's avatar, the return/work compared to long term rental.

But- since you are a newbie, in lay person's terms, the answer is yes...but slowly and over a very long time. 27.5 years, to be exact.