According to FICO, there are three different rate shopping periods that your past inquiries can fall under.

Ever since I am back home, I have tried to work with my PM actively  to lower the rent, and promote the listing, however, we had no luck to find a potential candidate due to the snow falls in the area and holidays. 

Neat the beltway could be old town Alexandria, could be Annandale, could be Fairfax or Falls Church etc.

I see listings posted all the time but RSO nor HCIDLA are in that line of business of enforcing this even though the STR operators are clear as day to see and VERY easy to find.Just look up how many lawsuits are filed and paid out against LA due to sidewalk falls/injuries.

I am also getting married in May and will be finishing my masters degree in the fall of 2023!

These deals are not going to fall into your lap. 

Do rental rates usually fall when interest rates increase and home values decrease?

Many new and experienced real estate investors will FALL into the pre-payment penalty TRAP and it might really bite them in the A$$ or cost them on future deals. 

Good luck covering litigation costs to whoever falls for this. 

Don't fall in love with a spread sheet use common sense.