@Alexa Intong Broadly speaking hard money's typically used for shorter term projects because of its terms and the high interest rates.

That is a broad question.

Airdna can give you a broad overview.Also if you just Google “best places to own vacation rental” you’ll find a ton of different list with the best areas.

Broadly, you can break down what HMLs are interested in into two categories; the deal, and you as a borrower.With regards to the deal,1.

They both broker but seem to have different sources in different areas, so worth pricing both out BUT that should give you some pretty broad "shopping" with pretty low effort.

Sometimes when having your guidelines too broad, you actually end up being unable to compare anything because all the options are so different. 

Sometimes on older rentals, ACV may be the only option.2) Special Form, if they don't offer that, then Broad Form.

I know this is a very broad question, but what should be the first project for a beginner to get involved?  

Markets are very broad and often times smart investing require zip, neighborhood and street data.  

on the high side, 90k would be my ceiling (assuming no repairs are needed)i used the following assumptions ... broad strokesPP: 90kannual rent: 18,540vacancy: 10%, could be higher or lower based on your areaSWAG expenses: 9,270 (50%) ruleCAP: 8.24%gross rent multiplier: 4.85% financed amount: 67.5Kdown: 22.5kannual debt svc: 4104DSCR: 1.81year 1 NOI: 7416before tax cash flow: 3,312before tax cash on cash return: 14.72%assuming a 5 year hold, at 90k you could expect an IRR 9.7% (assumed 1.5% increase in rent/expenses and 5% cost of sale.)i found a large deviation in per unit comps for 2-4 unit properties in malvern, pa (assuming you're looking close to home).