The issues I ran into was the local market was already flooded with STR's and in order to be profitable you had to stand out with a home that was either near an attraction (ie great view, Garden of the Gods, Downtown, or a College) or the unit had to have amenities (Hot tub, Instagram Wall, Pickle Ball Court) that would place your listing far and above other similar listings.I think you should strongly consider if you more interested in moving away and starting a life somewhere else, or in creating a cash flowing investment to supplement your income? 

The university areas work well with college students needing places.If you ever want to talk REI let me know looking at some options in Chicago this week and Indiana.

Hello in 2021 my partner and I bought an apartment in FL.The main purpose of the apartment was to invest our money to have it saved for our son to go to college.We have been renting this apartment to a family member who has been paying less than what we pay for mortgage and HOA,so we have been taking money out of pocket to cover expenses and so on.I decided that even thou the purpose of buying it was for college,I’ve had enough taking money out of my pocket to pay the HOA and expenses.My question is if I should sell this apartment or if it would be worthy in the long run to keep it and meanwhile just keep paying the HOA and expenses.Renting it to another person is not an option.

The biggest lesson I learn, is if you want to do it right; read and follow David Greene's book 'Long Distance Real Estate Investing'Good Luck!

Sometimes lessons are only learned after being burned yourself. 

I've seen a lot of posts about people eager to start an RAL and wanted to share some of the costly lessons I have learned and hopefully you can realize it before embarking on these projects.

Lessons learned?

What is the reason you are going to college? 

It would be located near a wedding venue, hunting retreat, and about 25 minutes outside of a major university town (e.g. could rent for college football gamedays). 

Appreciate any lessons learned you may have.I'm a real estate investor in Wash DC and in Charlotte, NC.