If you want to try and meet them halfway you can offer them 2 options in my mind.  1) continue to pay the lease until you can fill the space, AND until the rent commencement date of the next tenant. 

Lending - if you have $100,000 liquid and are not afraid to lose some money or to wind up with a house you lent upon that had to be foreclosed that might be for you.Single family houses have a lot of options.

Also I am having more and more difficulty finding insurance companies service STRs.My agent recommended a visitor covering option to my regular insurance.

Just a followup - if buyer decides not to buy furniture, but tenants are still on the lease for a furnished apt. what might be my options at that point?

If the problem persists, you could look into soundproofing options for the ceiling, like acoustic panels or even just thick rugs or blankets hung strategically.

TBH i think your best bet would be to have that 10% - 15% 'jr. debt' be from cash-out on another property, if it's an option.

In this strategy, maximize the units but all of the properties are now financed.For the veterans in this space out there, how would you look at these three options or option 4 if I may have missed one to maximize your returns over time? 

I understand that if I buy the property, LLC is the best option.

I believe most people (myself included) end up going the online route, and there are many well-reviewed options (and some on Groupon) for <$150.

@Sarah Kensinger Wayfair is great for finding options but if you do a reverse google image search you can often find where it actually ships from at a steep discount.