@Tom Harkins- I am quite late in asking this, but what were some of the pitfalls or perhaps disadvantages in dealing with a claim yourself?

This allowed us to increase our savings and increase our spending. 

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I'm Daniel, a complete newbie in this field, to be quite honest.

Has anyone dealt with this before?

We have a great community there https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530 Thanks, I will take a look at the information there 

Are rentals a good idea in this area?

The STR deal could be the best option if I understand your situation correctly, except I would probably do this as a cash-out refi and just use the combination of booking history + AirDNA projected income to qualify (if not operated as a STR for a year).

Hi Jeremy,Please review this thread for some details on Skiptracing Software. 

I’ve read a couple of intro real estate books, listened to multiple of the BP podcasts, so was exploring the idea of the license as well