When all of things are newer and you manage the guests well, the actual maintenance costs for a STR tend to be about the same, if not a tad lower, than long term (NOT including the ongoing cleaning costs . . . which again helps reduce the unplanned maintenance and repair costs of the STR).However, in another way you're likely to have MORE maintenance and repair in STRs because essentially you have all the volatility as a normal house, plus furniture and decor, plus a revolving door of guests. 

Your expenses are going to be all of the money that flies out of your wallet, whether planned or unplanned. 

You’ll never realize the full $600 anyways after unplanned repairs and maintenance.

It is unplanned for you but just start calling contractors and line up the work.

You get to subtract from your gross income all home depot expenses, supplies, unplanned contractor repairs, legal and accountant fees from your income to determine how much taxable income you will be responsible for at year end.

On the other side of eviction lies unplanned tenant turnover of which I have done 3, 2 due  to eviction and 1 due to tenant death.Every single one of those tenant turnovers has ended up costing at least $15k (repairs and upgrades needed to attract new tenant, lead compliance costs,  loss of rent waiting for eviction date and loss of rent filling tenant vacancy).I haven't read anything in what you said that would make me feel I could justify embarking on a course of action that could end up costing me that kind of money.Nothing.If my tenant has financial issues and I pile on late and legal fees on top of that I am making those tenant turnover costs more likely, so I always look for different ways of dealing with this. 

If they need out early (unplanned) I offer an early termination fee (ETF) that they can pay and get out.

While it may take a little longer to the house occupied, you might do a little more extensive screening to qualify your next tenant so you reduce the chances of another unplanned vacancy. 

Hey @Chad MichaelLike @Mark S. said, sometimes you need to be flexible as things will come up.Generally I follow this plan:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/63630-how...So for your landscaping question, whenever all of the outside work is finished is about the right time to start that, but even with the best plans, the sooner you start, the bigger the risk that you might end up doing it twice, as in the case of unplanned water, gas, or sewer issues.Cheers! 

Or Possibly a low down lease from Hyundai where you are out of pocket $1999 but the monthly payment is low and you are not dealing with repairs and unplanned expenses.