If you have inventory in your area that require renovations, distressed homes, outdated and you can pick it up for a good deal.

In many cases, finding the best financing will require investors to get a little creative.

Contractor buying material more than required and using extra material in other projects?

Motivation is to overcome down payment hurdle for expensive houses for STR

You may find in this environment you will be asked for 30%, 20 year, higher rate, which makes this deal look worse.If you pay cash....quick napkin math assuming 50% of NOI for expenses that leaves you with ~$70k which is a 3% return. 

I think its a fallacy that the established companies are more expensive. 

Radon mitigation is not very expensive, I did it on my home for like $1,200

I know of a few operators who are offering 4.75%-5.5% interest rates for 30-year fixed mortgages, a 20% down payment required with cash flow, good appreciation with good PM in place.

You'll want to make sure you understand the K1/tax filing implications because if you own very small piece of let's say 10 properties in 10 different states you would potentially receive 10 K1s (one for each deal) and 'may' have tax filing requirements in 10 states. 

We do allow a well-trained dog, preferably large, no puppies and no breeds not covered by our insurance (vet records showing breed, age, proof of current vaccination and any required pet license).