I let the natural turnover happen and as the new tenants came in then I required deposits from them.

If you bought right, you should get natural appreciation to do it for you.

Without knowing how much of the renovations you were planning on doing yourself over time versus how much you were wanting/needing to finance up front, you would also want to talk with potential lenders about what loan products they have which could incorporate both the purchase price as well as the reno costs into the loan package.Hope this info helps get you pointed in the right direction - definitely keep us updated as you move forward with this project though!

Transferring title to a non-natural entity of any kind (IV Trust, THT, LLC, Corp., etc.) will not increase your opportunities for attractive financing and typically restrict you to the private money market (low LTV, premium rates and higher fees).

Reno, as an incorporated city, is not compelled to follow the STR regs from Washoe County, but the City Council follows the County lead in many areas.  

That's just the nature of turnkey properties, whether you buy from these guys or anyone else.Given the current market, it makes sense for these providers to shift towards flipping and more value-add projects, despite the increased risk and operational challenges.

So far, I'm leaning towards an underground pool since it can be used all year round, but if I find a property that has room for both, then I may try to incorporate both amenities since families and the older crowd are my preferred avatar.

The tenant is not as much focused on rent when they are strong regional to national in nature but the best spot they believe drives the most sales and profit annually.It's the lesser quality smaller tenants that are more sensitive to rents because their model is not often proven with scale or over time as much.So you have to know what you are buying and what to do with it.I buy same stuff for cash but I am the GP on the syndications and my LP's put in minimum 200k per deal as accredited investors.To convert the bank to medical would be very expensive.

the I-75 corridor including Ocala, Brooksville, Spring Hill, Lakeland, The Villages (yes, and everything around them) are all experiencing incredible growth as incoming folks are looking for good priced properties out of harms way for natural disasters. 

If it wasn't fraud but simple incompetence (and he lost the money), then that isn't a crime and your options are more limited.Your legal contract (and/or the state laws the entity was incorporated in...depending on where) most likely requires the sponsor to share books and records with you (so you can at least know what happened).