You do not need a long-term visa to rent in Thailand. There are plenty of short-term options. I rent aparthotels, monthly Airbnb's. Rent hub is a good short term accommodation site, The 60-day visa exempt is going to end, the date not decided yet, so you need to keep an eye on that.
There are a few success stories from Manilla. I corresponded a lot with Manilla when looking at embassies to apply from. No seasoning needed for the 500K. Sponsorship i do not know about. They are responsive to emails so you should email them your questions. Very friendly, helpful embassy. There is a youtube vid of a DTVer applying there.