The real key is finding a good property manager first.

And that long term approach is how I see real estate benefiting the average person.To your point of not benefiting STR I slightly disagree, while this doesn't directly change STR rules I think it allows a potential for more STRs, again, if you're willing to make some sacrifices. 

She would learn and teach me about investing in stocks and I would learn and teach her about real estate investing.

I’ve been working in property management/real estate since 2020 and really want to try my hand at starting my own company.

The local agent that was present at the beginning of the project had gone completely silent.

Lastly, this loan would need to be heavily dependent on the actual property instead of my tax returns as I just quit my job a few months back to go full-time into Real Estate.

When the market was a little hotter in the recent past, a lot of listing agents in my area would shun or downplay offers that came with financing from credit unions or "too big to fail" banks. 

Compared to local insurance companies (I've used Farmers, state farm, and a several others over the past decade + of doing real estate) save me hundreds on monthly premiums.

I'm Jordan from New Jersey, passionate about real estate investing to boost my passive income.

However, if you are going to take advantage of cost segregation, I would recommend working with a CPA that specializes in real estate such as Michael, Ashish, etc. or I'd be happy to provide additional recommendations rather than doing it yourself through turbo tax.Here's an article with additional FAQs on cost segregation studies that you may find helpful.