I then sold the “business” (equipment, name, signs, goodwill, etc) to an operator for $50,000 cash, and the operator signed a five year 3N lease at $3,000 per month.

You should definitely check out Avery Carl's BiggerPockets book "Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth" https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/short-term-rental-l...There is a lot of amazing insight into everything to think of while operating an STR.

We use Key Data Dashboard, a superior analytics tool used by property managers, DMO's and similar organizations.

The few individuals investing in real property in a small way were few and not organized into any recognizable grouping.In 1957 Bill Nickerson’s book “How I Turned $1,000 into One Million in Real Estate in My Spare Time” was published.  

So knowing scope would help narrow down on risk mitigation tactics.I guess at the end of the day, it all comes down to knowing what is needed, order of operations, and having as close to true quotes from reputable contractors in hand.Beyond that, really knowing all that is needed and having those extremely detailed scope of works for each trade before you get your bids.  

Quote from @Michael Lynch: People rarely talk about the amount of effort involved in operating a STR.Never sell a property unless you have a clear plan to reinvest the money into something that will perform better or move you closer to your goals.

It is true that before the purchase we needed to do quite a lot of work to make sure everything was organized with the payments of the debt etc.

I am a CPA operating a firm myself.

We are looking for an attorney with experience that can construct an operating agreement for an LLC for an acquisition of a multi family property in the state of Arizona. 

Would love to know your plan, my biggest problem is staying organized with all of this lol