Folks vote for no more STRs, they are gone and you are out of luck.If there is a large block of condo's owned by a single entity, like a wealthy family or corporate entity, you are also in the same boat.

I know it sounds weird but Sellers want no knowledge and Buyers want all the knowledge.

I just listed one of my units on the site but no one has reached out yet (2 days).

-does depreciation work the same in the duplex since i am living in one side and renting the other?

I would use a service such as vacationrentaldesk.com for this.A direct booking is no more risky than a booking through VRBO or Airbnb; they aren’t verifying identity, either.In fact, my own company has taken thousands of reservations over 19 years, and we don’t verify identity.  

How it works.

To answer your question, no, don't invest out of market until you have some experience.

Could you briefly explain how their fund works?

Like Both Account Closed said, you can contribute property into and out of an LLC - as long as it is not taxed as an s-corp without it creating a taxable event.So, in your case you're almost all the way to no problem. 

No ACH, no credit card.