They can just go to Airdna and check how much money the average short-term rental in Punta Cana makes and they'll have an objective answer.Finally, I'm getting bombarded by messages from Dominican developers building short-term rentals in Punta Cana so, when looking at the statistics, bear in mind that the supply and therefore competition is going to increase significantly.My dear friend, due to the tourist, real estate and industrial development, there are approximately 100 all-inclusive resorts along the entire coast of Punta Cana, Bávaro and Miches, Grupo Punta Cana is the pioneer company in tourism and development of the Punta Cana and Cap area. cana, this same company is building the first and only Hublogistico in the entire Caribbean, guaranteeing thousands of jobs not to mention that each all-inclusive hotel generates from 1 thousand to 4 thousand employees depending on the hotel, not counting jobs in the construction sector, airport, local businesses and also businesses to supply the large demand for food and products in the hotel sector, including the entertainment and art department of hotels.Since you mentioned that it is impossible to compete with an all-inclusive, obviously a 100-square-meter apartment cannot compete with an all-inclusive with 1,000 rooms.

I'm counting that blessing right now!

You also have your tenants paying down your mortgage for you and appreciation (don't count on it, but often house prices go up over the long term).

It is the rare pet owning tenant that properly cleans the tops of door casings, inside heating vents, along the edges of baseboards, and a hundred other places where pet hair and dander gets caught, so you can generally count on needing extra cleaning. 4.

Since I will now be the host on Airbnb, does this count as materially participating and can I finally take the STR loophole? 

We are in agreement; I don't think you can count the Tenant Security Deposit of $8,450 towards Owners Equity.  

HOWEVER, my question is: given our goals/strategy, when analyzing returns for potential deals on the single-family rentals, along with a relatively low cash-on-cash return of roughly 1-2% should we allow ourselves to consider/count on 1) modest appreciation growth of only 3% year over year, 2) expense increases mirroring the current CPI of 3.5% and 3) low rental upside of only 1% (or even 0% given current market conditions).For example, if a deal gives a TOTAL return of roughly 15% year over year for 10 years but only starts out at about 1% cash flow via long-term rents, is this a good idea?

Building small units in low unit count is expensive.

It wouldn't change your loan amount because lenders are conservative.You could explore 2-4 unit properties because lenders will count 75% of the actual or potential rents (whichever is lower).

the $700 probably does not even cover maintenance/cap ex on 2 units at smaller unit count pricing.  5% vacancy/no payment is $230/month.