However, make sure to research thoroughly—there are many providers in the market, but not all have the experience or track record you’d want.For consistent cash flow and long-term appreciation, look into areas in the Southeast.

Research competition  and determine their profitability and how much they spend on marketing, how many employees they need, and how much time the wholesaler needs to devote to the business.  

One means of research: talk to an experienced real estate agent that specializes in work with investors. 

It's the sort of market that passes every metric or test when you start doing research, though. 

As such my market research is based on longterm rental criteria.

A lot to digest but some gold nuggets of information and wisdom!

From my research so far, it seems the demand is pretty high in general for STR's, I was also looking at San Antonio but would prefer to be in Florida and Jacksonville is the city in Florida that fits my budget, interested to hear from anyone who may know more about STR's there and to connect with anyone.

Quote from @Chris Primavera: I am located in Ohio and like many people I have researched and read about, tired of the 9-5 grind and putting money into someone else's pockets.

I would pick a major tourist destination where it wasn't saturated with STR's already.That would take some research but you could google top vacation destinations and find a place you would go on vacation.

From my research, it seems the first year that it is put in service is when you can bonus it.