However, I don’t recommend over insuring because you’re going to be drawing attention to yourself as the deep pocket defendant that everyone wants to target.

Sometimes these properties need rehab, other times they're ready to go.I'm looking for recommendations on the best tools or Excel templates for deal analysis.

Investors with experiences and losses recommend living within 3 or 4 hours of the rental, so it's easy to drive back if something goes haywire.My friends live 2 hours from theirs and it's a hassle. 

I would also highly recommend you starting the loan process now.

Does anyone have recommendations on a platform that solves for this issue and is also user friendly for the tenants?

@Kislay Shah I can recommend a few if you want to message me.

I don't recommend #2.

This is what I recommend for you to get started in your real estate journey:1.

I would recommend looking at how much money you could make as a STR vs LTR & then deciding if it's worth the effort to do STR vs LTR. 

If you're planning on keeping properties as LTR, I HIGHLY recommend Heather Turner's (Brandon's wife) book on managing rental properties.