However as a rule we have a baseline credit score (620) if they are below that- all applicants for the home combined, then we automatically require a double deposit (or higher deposit if double isn't allowed in your state).

@Anthony Finger I will PM you with a manager for Akron/Canton that friends speak highly of. 

Hi, We own a couple of homes in the country and have first hand seen how difficult it is to manage the rentals remotely. 

Consider how involved you want to be in the management of the property.

Arman Singh is an amazing real estate agent and LPG Management provides exceptional remodeling services and property management.

Are we correct that if we were to create a business entity such as an LLC for real estate investment, and we were actively involved in the management of our investments, then we could offset our LLP's current year's income by using any net loss from our investment property that we acquire this same year? 

It could be Steadily who is great for affordable property management insurance.

We are currently using Lodgify PMS to manage our 5 STRs but one big missing feature is the ability to send a SMS to our cleaners on bookings, cancellations and day before checkouts.  

For those of you that have created a strong team (acquisition, contracting, finance, management, etc.) to streamline your investment portfolio--even from out of state--what has worked the best for you and/or what do you wish that you had done differently?

Most lenders will do a hard credit pull before presenting a formalized term sheet, but that is after a property is under contract and your offer is accepted/you submit a full application and send in a credit authorization. 20% down with no STR experience is pretty normal on the market, but you will likely be using a haircut AirDNA projection instead of the full 100% to qualify you.