@Martin Nussbaum @Jason CollinsIt is important that you work with tax professionals who understand the unique tax consequences and planning opportunities surrounding STRs.If the average period of customer use is seven days or less (which would encompass nearly all AirBNBs, VRBOs, etc), the rental is not considered a rental activity under the passive activity loss rules.What this means is that whether one is a real estate professional or not does not matter. 

Based on my knowledge, your opinion, and what others have said; it may be best to hire a reputable architect as the builder will most likely outsource the design and mark up the cost. 

With rental investments tenants are depending on you to maintain their homes and if you fail to do so there can be legal consequences.

I’m willing to bet most investors here would not do something like that for fear of harming their reputation.  

You may also want to think about employing reputable property management company for your remote operations.

In addition to the military bases, they have a number of reputable hospitals too.https://austin.culturemap.com/...https://realestate.usnews.com/...

To do so, you'll have several different types of tax consequences to consider: property, income, gift, etc.There are several considerations that can go into the analysis of whether you need an LLC or whether a large insurance policy will suffice.

So the tax consequences may be different than what’s perceived.  

I just researched them and they have a really bad reputation...

If he knows you might threaten his reputation he might be more inclined to do the right thing.Get those quotes documenting that this was the builders fault to back you up.