Airbnb is their own eco system and they're the merchant of record and take care of all payments or lack of payment.

Additionally, my renovations are full guts anymore, which helps limit some competition and allows me to push the ARVs relative to other houses for sale in the neighborhoods.Admittedly, this doesn't necessarily create substantially more deal flow.  

@Sokun So Joshua Tree is an extremely competitive market.

Im thinking if I create a unique listing on Airbnb (After I live in this for a year to meet the VA loan requirements) I can create a competitive advantage by having such a unique property and demand a higher price per night as well as keep the occupancy up.2.

Less competition.

- What tool, if any, do you currently use that you find lacking in important features or that is difficult to work with?

Now, we do live in a small town, touristy area that does lack in nicer/unique short-term rentals. 

This has caused at least 3 major problems: 1) the market is now oversaturated with Airbnbs, 2) rental rates have come down bc of so much competition, 3) there's a dire shortage of workers available to service the huge increase in the # of Airbnbs.Wait times are often a month or longer for service providers.

It really is about collaboration and not competition.

Most banks or lenders are looking for a property that has a LTV of 75% or lower after cash out and some requesting a DSCR of 1.00x once fully leased.If you was looking for $100,000 you would want to at least get the property to be appraised at $145,000 to get the most competitive pricing and enough cash out for yourself and closing costs.