I declined and suggested they move forward with the bid they felt most comfortable with at their own expense but they then seemed to threaten legal action in a veiled manner citing their understanding of Minnesota state law which they feel puts the duty for pest removal on the landlord.

The cost of entry is low while the cash flow is high.

If not, I would not commit 120k to a condo if that is all your cash. 120k condos are going to be hard to find with appreciation, but the more you focus on cash flow, the more likelihood the HOA is struggling (low HOA, low maintenance, low priority).You have to figure out what the best asset is for 120k cash and where.

You will incur the expense of building anyways.

The cost of entry is low, and cash flow is high.

I decided to fix up (20+K expenses in the last 3 months) and have signed the realtor contract last week to sell.

I see a tremendous advantage to getting deals by buying with cash now since we have it, as well as making sure we do not end up underwater on a mortgage due to unforseen expenses as we are new to the STR game.

I will be moving out of state and I will be bringing on a PM company.After running the numbers, I would be facing negative cash flow every month after accounting for all the expenses (Annually about $1,000 - and that's the rosy estimate)  Is it worth it? 

That makes your insurability more difficult and expensive. 

However, the hard part is the expensive bay area entry price - even with the VA loan, it's still difficult to find places that makes sense for both while we house hack and when it's turned into investment property if we move.