I'm new here and I'm planning to invest in STR in the USA.

My situation: I have an FHA loan at about 5.5% and my understanding is that it usually makes sense to refi once rates are about .5% lower than your existing rate, which means I may need another .75 to 1% decrease in the rate.

As we are in Q3 of this year, I am noticing some shifts in the market.

Do I normally have my awesome real estate agent ALL of the legwork?

Looking to structure the deal with concession's to come as little out of pocket as possible so I have different offers in mind, but the payment is between the ranges.I figure another 20% for Property Management, Vacancy, Maintenance which totals to $1,100.84/M-$1,146.14/M. 

Here are a few suggestions on how you can maximize the wealth of information available: Check out the blogs and podcasts, or take advantage of the search feature (magnifying glass).

Or are builders likely to not even take the job seriously/bother quoting on it if the land isn't already purchased?

Expensive also.. you can move out of the downtown core towards N Charleston and summerville and things get less expensive.

Living in the mountains of North Carolina has been a dream.

They did a fantastic job renovating this home and several people fought over it when it came on the market!