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Quote from @Andrew Steffens: There are probably more experienced people on this type strategy who will hopefully chime in. 

I get a lot of applications from out-of-area people, typically moving from another state.

I would closely monitor your competitions pricing to see what is working for them.Vrbo has built in tools to monitor when people are searching for specific dates.

Steady pay, you can learn how to manage property and deal with people, and you'll be licensed to handle sales on the side.

I never was able to coordinate a consistent quarterly meeting for planning, I never knew who to contact because they have multiple levels of their workers and people were constantly moving in and out of the organization.  

We make people take photos of themselves holding their ID and then I also meet them in person for the showing - at least for my units on the NW side of Chicago.I've never heard of these testers, but I am not surprised. 

The loft is very successful on Airbnb and people love the main house for long term rental.

Many, many people have made huge fortunes on SFR's alone.Speak extensively with anyone who invests in RE and do everything you can to pull out why you *shouldn't* do something.

I have a couple of people that this has happened to, and you need to have it in writing and tied to the property to make it work.