Look at the policy in detail for coverage you don't need and see if it can be reduced or removed.  

Hey new to BP forums and RE looking forward to taking the leap to my 1st cash-flowing property in 2-4 years after reducing my debt and hopefully get at least 10 properties within 3 years from that. hope to find some members close to me as well.

Another option would be to make the designation harder to achieve, therefore reducing the amount of superhosts. 

This will reveal any/all defects (as well as the lien position of the foreclosing lender) and drastically reduce the risk.Good luck Jason!

Get a PM that triages repairs at least a little over the phone to reduce site visits, carries simple things like caulk and miscellaneous screws with them to reduce trips to the store and knows not to waste time repairing old fluorescent fixtures for instance or charges $150 a month to collect your laundry change.    

But the offsetting PM expenses can reduce my earned income (in 35+% tax bracket).

I also have one guy from my local REI group that is strongly interested in partnering (he is getting older and wants to reduce his work load but still stay invested) and a couple others that are interested in maybe using their IRAs to do so.

Reducing your monthly living expense is putting money back into your pocket ie. cash-flow.

They claimed that their business was hit hard.The company then said they were going to have trouble paying the rent, please waive the rent or reduce it for a couple of months.Then they stopped paying.  2 months later we got instructions on their chapter 11 filing and we were to immediately assume the role of corporate airbnb style landlord. 

Looking at your timeline, Id get pre approved now since it typically takes 20-30 days to close on a property once your offer is accepted which reduces your search window to 4 months or so.