This is a needle in a haystack and generally comes with competition and valuation premium, as well as lost opportunity and memory making costs.. 

As competition in this space cools down, the remaining players who stick it out and new players who enter the asset class will have the greatest chance of being the next class of top performers.

Licensable vacation rentals are obviously in high demand and offers can become quite competitive, I don't have any formal statistics but I'd say a quality active or eligible vacation rental sells at least twice as fast as a non STR property, the majority within days..My best advice to investors shopping for a hot or high demand asset class is:- Prepare & Practice: Get your ducks (GO UO!) 

issue with sub to is its a fraction of the market by the time you find someone willing to do this for you your competition will have bought sold and profited on many deals..

That means when something comes on that has good rents or is in good condition, or both, there's a ton of competition for it.

With the amount of capital I currently have I am looking at 450k - price range with conventional financing (not very competitive in this LA market).

And in a highly competitive business that distressed RE is the inventory moves to fast one needs to be able to look at a deal and in 5 minutes decide.. at least to make and offer

Aug.that is a 13-year-old competitive sailor) and I used to keep a Hunter 31 on the Chesapeake Bay near B-more. 

NY is a competitive high-priced market so it makes sense that you're open to areas with lower barriers of entry.

higher cost means less competition.