My understanding is it’s illegal in most places to record someone without their consent in locations where they would have a reasonable expectation of privacy… front yards visible from the street would not be private while backyards that are fenced in and not easily visible would be private. 

This is easily accessible for them in the MLS system .

You can successfully and fairly easily manage an STR out of state, however for your first one I think it can be helpful for it to be within driving distance (3 hours or less) and it will simplify filing / paying for taxes and tax preparation.

I can easily make changes as necessary.When I stay in a Vrbo I take pictures of their welcome binder to get ideas.I prefer a book too and its next to free. 

The simple economies of scale for joing their commercial division is unreal. the technology pages runs $266.50 because of the collaborative purchasing power of eXp Holdings, as an independent the same platforms could run easily $4-5,000 a month. 4.

.), but close enough to the St Aug downtown that ppl can get there easily.  

Cleveland is a great place to get started because the real estate is cheaper than a lot of places around the country and you'll very easily be able to live for free and even make money if you're doing it right.

@Jeremy Willman If you invest locally and buy “nicer” properties as opposed to run down properties you will easily be able to self manage all 5-7 of your properties when you get there.

If you're willing to get a distressed property I think overall it's a good idea but it's imperative you have a game plan for vacancy and do your research in the area to make sure you can rent out your place easily.

You can easily do this on a spreadsheet and it will take less time to track than find and learn a new software.