Greene.Tenants should be responsible for ordinary pest control.

If you put in an offer at 85% of list price on every decent home on mls in your targeted area, you're going to get a house or two that should only need cosmetic rehab - which you could control the costs better.  

Other countries have significant controls to this the US does not have.

For instance, we stopped originating these three rehab programs and instead originate a construction loan on our balance sheet that we have complete control over.

This means they will have practically complete control over whom to rent, how much to rent for, and how much to charge for repairs, etc.

To provide a practical example, I acquired a 60,000 SF assemblage that contained an autobody garage, nearly an acre of surface parking and a 4 unit building in Philadelphia.

I have clients that have these kinds of arrangements, and while it is easier when an org fills your units, you can lose control of maintenance and cleanliness.

As stated in this thread, I believe BL does not let you keep your data if you leave the platform which is not good business practice, IMO.

What's common practice?

Don't let it control you and I am glad you asked.You really don't want to rely on appreciation to make up for the poor performance as a STR.This is too much of a risk IMHO.