Plenty of appraisers have little to no experience in STRs as this asset class (if one wants to even call it that) is relatively new in the REI space, and thus, the method suggested above is probably not that likely to succeed. 

Would love to hear experiences/guidance from SMEs here.Thank you

Any experience?

In my experience, they may give you a price upfront, but they don't expect payment until they are done. 

What is your experience or opinion? 

Although you don't have a lot of experience, you could look for a fix and flip or BRRRR investor, partner with them on a purchase and split the profits. 

In me experience real estate is get rich slow. 

The basement reno was a great learning experience, it was a full gut and redo which included HVAC and plumbing for basically the whole house. 

My son and I have been the construction side of 6 fix and flips now and have gained the experience and knowledge of hard money and private investors but we are really interested in seller financing. 

I use verified lending companies not banks for these loans and my clients have had great experiences.