I am about to purchase a home in a popular vacation area.

I agree.I believe people use Vrbo more when going on a family vacation.

If you have someone in mind to do the setup and trust their design eye then that can work.It will cost more but you just have to keep an eye on the budget.When will the tenant vacate the property so you can begin repairs?

If it is in a true vacation market most furniture companies will come deliver and setup. 

Sigh, I don't want to take a vacation day just for this but if I don't get a response soon, I'm not sure if I can wait much longer.

I did a 1031 exchange in early 2022 from a single vacation rental I had into two DST's, each are  300 unit Apartment complexes offered by Capital Square. 

Homeowners can rent their house to individuals looking for vacation opportunities or they can rent their house to a business owner who intends to use it for business purposes.Shifting Income from Your BusinessIf you are a business owner and do not use your home as your primary place of business, employing the Augusta Rule can be an effective strategy for moving income away from your business and shifting it to personal income, where there would be no tax consequence.For example, as a business owner, you host a monthly meeting with your Board of Directors.

You don’t depreciate strictly 2nd/vacation homes, only rental properties. 

The SE tax is a minor expense compared to the advantage of owning RE tax free( capital gains and cashflow) including short term vacation rentals inside your Solo401k.

If your business implodes if you go on vacation for 2 weeks to Europe and leave your phone in the office, it's not much of a business (it's a practice).