Not having enough cash on hand in the capital reserve budget up front4.

U also have good cash reserves saved up.

Add about 30% from $1700 of property management, capital expenditure reserves, and vacancy expense, now you are at about $1930 in total expenses per month, net cash flow of -$200.You can decide to manage your self and then you are break even.It not a bad deal but you should ask yourself is there a place you can get a better return on your investment.

I have been researching OOS investing, but have my reservations about not having the ability to manage them myself.I am hoping to network with other investors and professionals in REI, and hopefully expand on my portfolio.

But these are exceptional circumstances, and depend on the investor having information that most people in the community don't have, so it's probably something that is reserved for investors who are already successful and / or have political access. 

If you take the self-management approach, there are definitely some tools that can help with managing things moving forward but my natural assumption is that no matter how easy the on-boarding is, tenants will probably still want some sort of hand-holding through that change management process. 

We reserved a year in advance and VRBO agreement was in her name only however we both paid half the rent and both want the 2 months.

100% financing is dangerous and not advisable unless you have considerable reserves 

But what's the end goal... to have one (or more) month of vacancy reserves at the end of the first year?

@Lee Burns  I think you were addressing your post above to me, so I'll take a shot at it. . .My reasoning is that a sandwich lease carries additional risk that might prove burdensome for a new investor, particularly a new investor with limited cash reserves.