That said, in searching for my next property I am finding a hard time wanting to do another hard money loan.

Outside of the 30yf that's somewhat unlikely to happen, you should be able to cherry pick from several options in terms of PPP (length and severity), fees, fixed period, etc.

After everything was fixed and they listed the unit, apparently they claimed that I was not allowed to have any understanding of who would be renting my home due to potential bias and discrimination (this is the first time I have not been able to view applicants general profile (credit score/occupation(removing any identity markers)), but fine, I let them choose the tenant and so far there hasn't been any issues.

You should consider having a sit down with the tenant and discuss whether they will be able to pay on time.

With rising interest rates and the widening wealth gap, first-time homebuyers are by locked out of the housing market, it seems long-term rental demand is solid but of course it would be important to get quality tenants in the better parts of town.

You should still be able to find a few lenders to do smaller rehabs like that, as long as the ARV supports it, and often times the BRRRR tends to work better that way because if it is in a good Sec 8 area with rents that support the ARV, the refi can work out well.Happy to connect and talk through details if you are interested!

On smaller projects, I have seen this turnaround time from acquisition to active on AirBnB in as little as 1 month. 

I have spent quite some time learning, researching and preparing for my first Short Term Rental.

If your rent exceeds 1% which seems to be the case here, 50% rule is conservative but it provides a quick estimate.  

I think 95% of the time you will be fine, so I would probably check the box, do a good job with pics and descriptions accuracy and deal with the 1-2 problem people per year.