I am just starting out with a STR and found that VRBO is not very specific if they are collecting the tax and paying it to the State as a marketplace facilitator or am I responsible for this tax collection and payment ?

You can have a mansion fronting the Mediterranean, but if you pay too much for it, you're done.

The tenants began pay rent on time, but then payments began coming in late, then half, then partial, then none.

But don't let them know it.It amazes me how many of our members at MassRealEstate dot net have an Asset worth $300-500k Rent it for .5-1% of value and hardly pay attention to it, yet chase a tenth of a percent in CD rates;-)

If it is less than 30 days, the owner can kick someone out for failing to pay or obey the rules.

It may sound nice to pay a 6% management fee but the extra fees can add up to be more than the other company that charges 10% with no additional fees.

Contractors, unless you have a working relationship with them, normally do not want you bouncing ideas off them.Understand what their hourly rate is, have a discussion with them that you are okay with paying them an hourly rate if they walk the property with you and provide you a scope of work along with an explanation of what you can/can't get away with in regards to improvements.ask them if you go with them, if they can credit you the amount that you paid.Once you develop a working relationship with a few contractors, you can bounce ideas off them and expect quality responses.I do not invest in New York.Best of luck. 

I'm also considering Halethorpe because it's a good commuter location.Some people really like supporting the city in which case , northeast Baltimore would seem to the best place to buy a single family, in my opinion given the taxes situation and given that none of those areas are walkable I’d rather just be in the county and pay Lower taxes, and it’s not like northeast Baltimore is much that much cheaper than Baltimore county, hathorpe is mixed, arbutus is nice, I hate the housing stock there, would rather be in Catonsville if I was considering western Baltimore county. 

I have done over 30k reservations and only had 1 instance of a guest causing above $10k in damage, so not sure how worth it is to pay for additional coverages. 

I'll subto his existing mortgage and pay off the 120k.