Its a gamble to go the permit route or not in Philly and absolutely matters the neighborhood/your neighbors as they are usually the folks that will call L&I on you OR if your property is near other construction sites where inspectors would be traveling to/from. 

I'm not looking to scale tremendously, just looking to have enough passive income once the rental properties are paid off that my fiance and I can leave our jobs in the automotive business and find something less stressful and more fulfilling, live a little slower, and travel more.

We plan to 100% travel to the area that we are going to be purchasing before making a purchase to meet people, network, and hopefully build a solid team. 

I often wonder if the remote location (20 minutes up the mountain) is a turnoff and travelers are starting to prefer motel-like accommodations that are close to the main highways.

@Brian Garlington, I actually do travel to Columbus myself a few times a year at least.

Markets that are close to travel to are good places to start.

Hi Folks, not sure if this thread is being monitored,  but I have a couple of single family homes in tulsa that i'm trying to rent out as a mid-term rentals (to traveling nurses etc).

And, as Nathan noted, you are likely giving up huge appreciation potential, which will likely never be replaced by cash flow.But at the end of the day, if you are in a declining market in LA and are able to find great deals in higher cash flow areas, taking into account the likelihood of needing to outsource everything and additional travel costs to visit the properties a couple times per year, and you don't really care about appreciation, then it could work for you.  

BR gets a decent amount of bookings from Floridians so gas prices and opened up air travel would be my immediate concern if you are looking for a cash flowing property now.  

I also like to have my phone handy showing the final comp set pricing on the traveler view on Airbnb at the same time.I think starting out slow is good.