What a fantastic problem to have!

The real estate commission does not give a definition of 'short term' vs 'long term', other than to say with 'short term' rentals there is no lease agreement in place.However, they also state that if you DO have a real estate license, then your short term rentals fall within the guidelines and purview of the real estate commission.So if you are going to only manage short term rentals in Colorado - you are may be better of NOT getting your real estate license.Thank you Garry C for the correction!

@Benny Ng the 50% rule is not necessarily a rule but a guideline to be used.  

2) Is my best option for then buying another multi out of state, hard money, some kind of conventional loan (haven't found one yet that will underwrite a multi that ISN'T owner occ), or a personal loan, if the purchase price is just fantastically low?

Just use the formula above for a general guideline.

@Arturo Martinez III, that is fantastic that you are plugging away it, keep it up, in the grand scheme of things 1 year is nothing and to be debt-free, man, that will be so great.

This will be a fantastic learning experience for you because you get to deal with investor/buyers.

This was an untouched 1950's rambler that was in fantastic shape.

If I'm reading these threads correctly, based on the ucc guidelines they provide it won't affect me much like it will if I had an LLC, right? 

I'm sure they're fantastic but I wasn't able to afford them at this time since I'm just starting out.