Get a roommate, hopefully a property that needs some cosmetic love, even better if it's a small MFH.Rinse and repeat every couple of years, slowly build some equity, cash flow, knowledge, experience and relationships and then you can do bigger, and more unique things. 

Okinawa is a home to some veterans who love the weather and unique culter. 

Each home is unique unto itself.

For pros/cons of booking.com I would say the following...Pros:-if you use guesty you can sync your airbnb info into your booking.com listing info to ease the set up process-there are more options to check off in the amenities portion of the listing set up, so you can really display the uniqueness of your property-I would wager 90% of self-managing str hosts only list on up to VRBO/Airbnb, which means there are not nearly as many options for people to choose between, which means more exposure for your listing-rumor has it that booking.com just invested a large sum of money into building out their services to provide more vacation home listings rather than hotels.

You're in a unique part of the country that was absolutely clobbered in the last real estate bubble.

Seek out locations that are undergoing gentrification, development, or expansion where property prices may increase over time.Creative Financing: To fund your local deals, consider unique financing solutions including partnerships, seller financing, or private loans.

Added bonus for us was the 10,000 square foot lot and live oaks on the property -- hopefully something unique to attract more guests (or headaches from cleaning leaves, etc.), but time will tell. 

It was a unique project to be a part of!

I have been in the STR game 7 years and have built from scratch two times already, with unique architecture/ design forward STR specific builds as a hedge against the competition in my area.

I have an opportunity to start from scratch a property management division for a smaller established firm.My payment would be 100% commission for property management services.