In my state (PA) a tree falling and causing damage to someone else's property only creates liability for the owner of the tree if the tree was known to be in poor condition or if the owner should have known it was in poor condition.

Start small, and trust your instincts.Books and Mentors: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is a classic.

Many short-term rentals will rent monthly during the off-season.A quality REALTOR will help you determine what needs to be done to make the property more sellable.

To avoid going through the same poor experience, keep reading.Even if someone gives you a referral here, do NOT make the mistake of assuming that the PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!

So, I guess it all depends on the quality of your network. 

Learn together when you can or leave some links when you find something good so that it is a shared activity.There are so many posts about the metrics of a deal, or the qualities of the asset, but those won't matter if you put your relationship in the middle of your investing trajectory.

Two good books to read since you're just starting out - Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and How to Invest in Real Estate by Brandon Turner and Joshua Dorkin.You'll need to attend and network at real estate meetups to meet people that are already doing what you're trying to do where you're at.

I find that when I allow pets, I get more and higher quality applicants who earn more, have better credit, and have fewer background problems.

You don't want to bring over poor operations to STR because you will also fail there.

Get to at least 2, ideally 3 properties, before switching locations.3) Focus on the quality of the investment, not any investment.