STR - Vaca Rental Education

[Chris Hackett]

Hey All-

I'm about 10 years away from retirement and want to start educating myself about the possibility of purchasing a STR investment property somewhere along the gulf coast of Florida / Alabama.

How would you recommend I start the process of educating myself about things like:

* Rental Occupancy Rates (both seasonaly adjusted averages as well as specific monthly numbers - Basically, where can I get some good, real numbers for rental histories?  Can I only get this once I'm in actual negotiation or Due Diligence on a specific property?

* Management fees

* taxes and insurance, etc.

I wonder if there are folks who are tracking income and expenses in a spreadsheet and would share their experience?

Chris