All this to say, holy crap, the BP community is awesome!

Quote from @Alex Kosley:You probably havn;t live thru a downturn yet, but when it turns down everything goes to crap at the same time...that's why I say pay off the 401k loans.   

We paid $265K and the monthly combined rent is $2775.

It’s definitely a combination of how you operate as well as the actual property and what it has to offer.There is already a lot of good advice on this thread about regulations and looking at comps - you make your money when you’re buying so don’t rush into something you don’t fully understand or have the answers to!

For instance, most track builders build in a crap-ton of fluff into the price of the house so they can provide a "credit" (like $15K or more) toward closing costs if and only if you use their lender...where they can charge whatever they want.

A combination of both?

I think it was the size of the property or may be just a combination of bad luck.  

These techniques, while still doable today, had its heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s when double digit interest rates combined with no due on sale clause accounted for the majority of real estate sales activity.  99.9% of loans are such that the lender wants to know the source of the down payment.  

If they are paying a 2 night minimum for $399/night plus all the other crap I'm not worried.

Long-term rentals provide an attractive combination of cash flow and appreciation if you can purchase them at the right price.