There are several other individuals that do STRs. 

He knows many people who are going to come and individually rent the rooms out, so on a rent per room basis, the cash flow is actually very attractive.

also I should add that one duplex- the rooms are being rented individually

I am in the process of hiring a property management company as I am moving out of state 12 hours away, I am in a unique rural area where it is impossible to find a larger company, basically have to use individuals (normally real estate agents) who manage a few properties here and there or own their own.  

Yes, this does present the challenge of both individuals needing to be able to qualify for a loan on their own, but it’s a great way to do it.

Some who could sadly not even read/write.I live in a pretty large tech area in Northern Virginia now so I'm sure there are lots of traveling workers that come through however I think the real problem is going to be recent regulations that prevent individual STR landlords from maximizing their profits.

Crowdfunding gives more control and transparency and may be easier to track how the individual properties are performing.

You can get lower rates on individual owner occupied, but why trade that risk?

@Ben Schembri That's exactly why I thought these may be commercial loans or a loan that's being leveraged against business assets instead of an individual person.

Unmarried individuals can exclude up to $250,000 in profit from the sale.