I would greatly appreciate hearing your experiences and any advice on whether this is a prudent step to take before diving into investments.

That was an awful experience. 

Reality is you can get more info from BP and more education for free or on youtubeIf you want to join a community, join a small one where there are people doing different deals and have experience.

I am currently looking for an internship to gain practical experience in managing STRs.

My experience has been great !!  

In my experience, when the client leaves out the reasons for the contractor leaving, it may not be the contractor's fault.

I had to learn how to guess how much value I could add to a property and base my guesses on facts.The journey was already hard because of the lack of experience and information at the start.

In my experience that's all that matters. 

I understand the varied success and experiences with section 8 rentals but the lesser home prices in the area are intriguing.

With your experience, and especially the savings on redoing the sewer line at cost, this actually looks like it has legs.