My new motto: I don't want my $ and investment resting on someone's opinion of the linens and shampoo!

And with still decent rates, long am period, big down and top notch units in the right area could help.I would check out the book Buy and Hold by Schumacher, a clever appraiser that became a big SoCal real estate investor (and best selling author), catching the post war run up in SoCal home prices.

I'm thinking whether to provide linens/towels.

You might have a clever tenant who sends you a payment and writes "for rent only" on the check. 

Don't forget to include start up costs such as linens, decorations, and the little things that will make your rental stand out from the crowd when figuring out your cash flow for your first year.

Through this program I was receiving weekly calls from a clever investor consultant.

I thought it was active on the STR because I provide all furnishings, cooking supplies, maid cleaning before arrival, guest communication, towels/linens. 

Last weekend, after paying an absolutely exorbitant sum, my renters were gone by 11, having taken out the trash, stripped the linens and put them in the laundry room, loaded the dishwasher, and left a couple hundred dollars worth of liquor and gourmet food in the kitchen.

We have negotiated with our vendors and have an invitation style, heavy linen paper, handwritten fonts, USPS permits, all down to approx 46 cents a unit INCLUDING POSTAGE.

We ask our guests to:- Bag and take out trash to bins outside- Load dishwasher and start before leaving- Put all bath linens (towels, not sheets) in a pile in the bathtub.