STR for Vacation Property 10 hours away

[Jeff Howard]

Situation: Wife and I are looking at getting a vacation lodge, condo, cabin, or house in New Mexico or Colorado for skiing and summer vacation. Want to pay for it by doing a STR type thing (VRBO, AirB&B). With this post, I am trying to figure out if this is a good idea. I will not be able to afford the monthly payments (or will be very strapped) without STR.

Credentials: I own a long term rental property that we manage ourselves, wrote our own agreement, screen our tenants the right way. We have a few coaches around us including you guys. Wife stays at home and would manage the STR for us but she is a domestic engineer (stay at home mom) with 3 kids so is very busy. I work about 50 hours a week and would be unable to manage this. My role would be to find the property and set up the STR, she would run it after that.

My own research:  

1. Get technology: Get a camera of some sort, like a ring.  A wireless lock with a code that can be changed after the people leave.  Maybe some Arlo cameras in the house that you tell the guests to take down an stick in a drawer when they come in, and the cleaning staff to put back up when they leave.

2. Get a good cleaning staff:  Pay them extra every time you get a positive review about the cleaning.

3. Issue with Property Management: PM company will take 30% profit.  (I am such a huge DIY person to a fault, when looking for property to rent I see so many mismanaged properties I just want to stay away from Property Management, because of that, and the 30%, but I am teachable)

Question: With the above statements out of the way we are wondering if it is possible to manage a STR from 10 hours away. We have lots of concerns, as in, what could go wrong and what to do about it?

1. What happens when maintenance is required in the middle of the night? Like a stopped up toilet or a heater that stops working

2. What happens when a furnishing breaks like a TV?  Or someone's car keys rip a hole in the couch?  Or a bunch of dishes are broken? My concern is that I have a full time job I cannot run up there fix it and will get bad reviews from next weeks guests.

3.  What happens if I get irresponsible guests that totally trash the place beyond what the cleaning crew can handle?

4.  How much can be made practically with a rental like this?  High Winter season, low summer season.

Hey thanks in advance, I am just thinking of all the things that can go wrong and how I would deal with it.