The Arbitrage unit that we operate is owned by a friend, so we probably played a little fast and lose with our agreement with her. 

But here's the deal: paperwork is the backbone of the whole operation.

Setting up an Investment LLC (holding) for your properties, a Property Management LLC for operations, and possibly another LLC for short-term and mid-term rentals makes sense.

Washington was the operating partner, with the land being developed for small farms, houses, grain silos, tanneries, barrel manufacturing facilities, churches, stores, etc. 

So visiting the property could have some value, depending on your goals of the visit.I have hosted investor tours at properties in the past, where we dedicate time with our investors and the community manager to walk the property so they can see their investment, as well as talk about current operations, how the business plan in going, and allow them to meet people on the team that they invested with. 

I then sold the “business” (equipment, name, signs, goodwill, etc) to an operator for $50,000 cash, and the operator signed a five year 3N lease at $3,000 per month.

You should definitely check out Avery Carl's BiggerPockets book "Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth" https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/short-term-rental-l...There is a lot of amazing insight into everything to think of while operating an STR.

The 5 major points they’re focusing on — affordability, uniqueness, videos, discoverability, and marketing — sound like they’re trying to create a more seamless integration with the main platform, but the question is: will it truly add value for hosts?

So knowing scope would help narrow down on risk mitigation tactics.I guess at the end of the day, it all comes down to knowing what is needed, order of operations, and having as close to true quotes from reputable contractors in hand.Beyond that, really knowing all that is needed and having those extremely detailed scope of works for each trade before you get your bids.  

Quote from @Michael Lynch: People rarely talk about the amount of effort involved in operating a STR.Never sell a property unless you have a clear plan to reinvest the money into something that will perform better or move you closer to your goals.