Hiring someone to do the work will likely cost too much (I would charge a small fortune, it's an incredible amount of work) and doing things as cheaply as possible will bite you in the *** later when you start having issues with your own shoddy work and/or materials.

Charges for marketing pics, 3-D Tours, Floor plans?

Smart thermostats, in particular, can help you monitor energy use and lower costs between stays.I hope everyone’s experiences and perspectives help guide you as you start this journey!

Owning has advantages that LL does not such as no vacancy, typically lower maintenance/cap ex versus being occupied by tenants, and often property tax breaks. 

Taking these two pieces of info will tell you how long you will take to get an offer, so if you go past that you should lower the price, and then the other action item would be to starting off lower than all the other properties if the condition is better than your condition.

Question: Should I collateralize the loan (if using private or hard money), or rely on roll-over loans (to maximize the lower points and 3-4% rate)?

You could bring less down and possibly have a lower interest rate since you will be living there.

Sounds like with are under charging our owners by thousands of dollars or they are trying to rip you off.

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

You get PM experience, lower expenses, you don't live with your parents anymore, etc..