As a realtor, I see buyers being much more sensitive to total cost, financing incentives, and maintenance predictability, which makes new construction much more attractive now than in the past.

So, the 500+ hours you worked could potentially count for this year.Once you hire a property management company, it can be harder to meet material participation requirements, but if you're still heavily involved in maintaining and updating the property, it could help.

The pennies that you spend on a PMC will most likely cost you dollars in your time and effort.

i'd try to buy as close to where you live as you can, whether that's 2 minutes or 2 hours, instead of picking a random market potentially thousands of miles away.hope that helps

A few key things you’ll want to focus on are:RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) – the core metric for valuing operations.Occupancy trends and ADR (Average Daily Rate) – these drive your revenue projections.Expense ratio and management structure – smaller motels can run at 40–50% expenses, while flagged hotels can be much leaner with scale.CapEx and reposition potential – if it’s a rehab, understanding brand standards and conversion costs (for example, turning an independent motel into a soft-branded flag) can make or break the deal.My partner and I have underwritten several hotel/motel projects in the Los Angeles area, so I’m happy to share some insight into how we typically structure the analysis and what lenders look for in this space.

I would think a conventional "temp" loan would be foolish cost wise with closing costs as they will be and  interest rates or maybe interest rates would be better.

Hey Shoshawna — that’s definitely a tough spot, but it sounds like you’ve got a lot of potential with this one.

Hi @Melinda Eilts, I’ve seen that work well when structured carefully, private money for flexibility and a short-term loan to bridge timing or rehab costs.

That way you get a bump without forcing a potential vacancy.

Since you’re open to Ohio, I’d highly suggest taking a look at Columbus for both long-term rentals and potential fix-and-flip opportunities.