Short sales by design are listed on MLS (always and always are arms length) and not below value, or the lender would more than likely decline any short sale offer.

Quote from @Brandon Morgan: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.You move at a speed that is comfortable for you.

It can be a conversation in search of a win-win, a mutual effort vs adversarial negotiation as on-market is designed to be. 

The $1M came from investing in real estate and my family has been in SFR rentals for 40+ years so I'm familiar and comfortable in real estate and believe that Multi-family investing is significantly more efficient that SFR. 

If not, hire a professional architect or floor plan designer, or use tools like RoomSketcher, MagicPlan, or Matterport to create them.

After that, you'll be much more comfortable and have the confidence to take action when you find a good deal.

If you want to hit the projected numbers or even outdo them, your property must stand out in location, view, management, and especially design.

Start with locations I'm most familiar with - Spend some time on Youtube learning about the different areas, and seeing which ones I'd be comfortable living in- When narrowed down, rent an Airbnb and try to spend a week in each place- From there, start talking to some property managers and networking in the area to find opportunitiesI grew up around the metro Detroit area, so that would be a good starting point for the research, expanding out to nearby spots in the midwest like Ohio.

I've settled today with my family at a cozy and comfortable rental where we have power and water, and wanted to respond first to thank all of you for your responses -- I'm so grateful for the kind words and information.

The area is loaded with men on 1-2 year contracts who have homes some where else and they just need 1-2 years of safe, clean, comfortable housing and the only other option is seedy hotels.