I invested in the Bay Area for 30 years, stuck to the basics and it worked out.

Do they include property tax and estimated income tax from the projected profit?

This statement tells me you are not ready to do a project like this.   

(long-term) Involve in slightly larger real estate projects (e.g. apartment, storage, development etc.) while not quitting my job (yes I kinda enjoy my day job).Challenges:1.

I am involved with quite a few mix-use and multi-family projects where historically bank originated construction to permanent financing was used.

Right now, I find myself bouncing between analyzing short-term rentals, then long-term rentals, and then creating financial projections, only to come face-to-face with reality (how accurate are my projections, and are my expenses underestimated or overestimated?).

I originally was looking in the Midwest and different areas & I still am but, when I start thinking about rehabbing & working on a project, I tell myself I can easily drive 1-4 hours to check on my property PA because of the distance vs somewhere like the Midwest where it’s  super far.

Prior to getting your loan, it will be important to know what your strategy is for that specific project.

It's build ready basically.

There are loans that allow you to use projected short term rental income to qualify as well.