But imagine you don't pay cash but rather borrow so your 5k cash/closing-down payment to buy a 100k STR, then in year 1 it rises 2k - only a paltry 2%, but you make a 40% profit as you are levered 20:1, and that beats the best year for stocks ever. 

You could cost yourself over 7500 by selling it under market value. 

It means cheaper living costs, getting to know how to be a landlord, and having tenants.

During the pandemic I was working with several traveling nurses who were looking for short term rentals in the area, close to hospital systems, and were willing to pay 50-70% over market rent for 3-6 month leases. 

I would like to know what all qualifies as completely clean here- Electrical wiring is normal and no unlicensed modifications - Structural inspection is also clean.Seller is ready to discount the price by ~20% from market plus the cost to repaint the whole house What are other questions to ask and things to consider in this scenario?

Purchase Price:Total: $1,985,000.Deposit: $10,000 (First Deposit) within 3 days, additional $30,000 (Second Deposit) within 30 days.Seller Financing: $297,750 (15%), 5-year term, 20-year amortization, 6% interest.Balance: $1,647,250 to be paid at closing.

That money can very easily disappear if for some reason you aren't able to close.

The owner was renting the property and was getting close to retirement age.

Developing a team across state lines, cheaper contractors are not always best, they cost us time and money because they weren't the right people.

They have a place they could potentially close on by the end of the year, but its new construction and the closing is subject to change based on the builder (and the area was just in the path of Beryl, so that timeline could have been impacted), so if that's the only thing they're thinking of exchanging into, I'm inclined to suggest they consider consuming the losses now for simplicity's sake, especially if the exchange timeline can't be guaranteed to work out.