I spoke with real estate and property management professionals about it and they recommended not providing it due to maintenance issues.

Hi, can you provide more detail about what you mean by "lead software to use to find property" - do you mean like lead management software / CRM to manage your leads that you've already generated? 

Or do people generally keep their rentals in the same location so they are easier to manage?

If you intend to have it managed after purchasing, reach out to a couple STR property managers and have them offer their perspective on what's worth fixing, what amenities you need, and how much they would rent it for.

The risk you run with this model though is you would risk being over leveraged since your using 100% debt, and you would need the property to have a high cashflow amount each month to cover Capex, insurance, debt service, and your normal expenses associated with the property (property management included).

Maybe a little more if you self manage and less if you use pm.

After the owner paid for the license application, I worked with the county to get the STR license approved under the owner's name with me as the manager.

If so I'll make sure to start pressing him for leads.I do not have a title company, construction, or property management partners yet.I feel like a mentor would make sense, but I'm not sure if a paid mentorship is the best bet or simply trying to network with RE professionals in the area.

For instance, if I manage to raise private capital to fund a deal and purchase a successful rental property, how would this actually benefit ME when I have no skin in the game (i.e. money of my own invested)?

Accounting packages such as QBO and others specific to property management are good, but they can also be like killing a housefly with a sledgehammer.