It would seem to me, who is not in the AZ, crazy to put that amount of money into a STR given that the tourist market is not always consistent and has been very hot lately.

However, the neighborhood and HOA recognized the area for it's tourist attractions (in between two ski resorts, local beaches on the great lakes, etc.) and that owners would want to rent out their vacation homes.

Also, think about what brings people to the area, such as job market, new infrastructure, tourist area, etc.

End of the day its tourist based.. if I was doing food cart I would go for the Snow cones  the guy who has one the one in Kihei kills it.. so do some of the Ice cream vendors. 

When STRs were not banned, they had reduced occupancy and reduced rents due to many of the tourist attractions being closed.  

Seeing as how I also live a military town with high tourist traffic near many beaches and events this gives me leverage as both a traditional rental and a vacation rental or air bnb.

Having said that, you obviously fall into some tourist, Airbnb opportunities in some areas in NC as well and there are plenty of investors that use this niche as their bread and butter, so maybe worth considering if you find a Class A area that fits this criteria - this would change your % of monthly rental yield accordingly as “nights stay” charges usually are far superior to monthly rental charges (a quick prorated daily charge would show you by what %)If you’re going towards a college town, I would caution you to move your lease agreements to student ‘friendly’ - co-signer at minimum (make sure you know that parents/guardians can/will foot the bill for damages/rent ultimately) but I’ll include a link that should help with this too. https://www.rentecdirect.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-renting-to-college-students/With all of this in mind- it might be best to speak with an agent in your area/desired areas and get someone who’s familiar with working with investors and the best investing areas you’re talking about in NC.

The property location is about an hour outside of San Diego, CA, in a small but popular historic tourist town.

Prices have risen a lot due to the rise of tourists and foureign investors.

If you are buying in a non-tourist area... maybe not as easy.