But, as you seem aware, you are already talking yourself out of this journey.As others noted, you need to define your investment first.

But you by yourself seem to be able to qualify, so I can qualify you and we agree to some ground rules for your RM then I'd be comfortable with the coming/going.Not having done this before I don't have a guideline, but my initial thoughts would be:Clearly define are these 30 day stays or less than 30 day Airbnb type stays? 

I have rentals in Houston, Spring, and Conroe.I will suggest you define your criteria and make an offer on every property that meets these criteria.

However if the verbal offer elicits a response, you'll have a sense of how motivated the seller is.That being said, a written offer accompanied by pre-approval, attorney/title company information, and clearly defined contingencies will give you the best chance to be taken seriously and ultimately land a deal.I am not 100% sure about the process in California but you'd likely have to hire a home inspector within ~72 hours of an accepted offer.

I would definately stay away from the rougher areas in east st. louis. 

I think you have a clearly defined goals problem.

Accept no one's definition of your life; Define yourself.

An added feature is that the STR provider is as much a business as it is real estate; hence operations defining the customer experience plays an outside roll in success or failure.

Whatever they call them just know that it's not "conventional" loans that measure things like DTI.Generally speaking there are 2 main types of loans for investors: “Conventional” and “Portfolio”Conventional - I'll define these as loans that come from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (if you recognize those names).

Defining the goals and being super clear are good points.