Repairs made while the property is your primary residence are not deductible, but improvements can increase your cost basis, reducing future capital gains tax when you sell.

Contrary to most business lending, the REI industry has a lot of "non-bank" lenders that provide attractive loans that can lower your cost of capital and improve your profit/cash flow. 

Look at their finishes and what they offer guests, use that as your baseline, then improve upon it.

Your aim starting out should be to get the best reviews as possible and use guest feedback to make improvements as you go.

Are you looking to pay off the hard money loan, fund another investment, or cover property improvements?

My plan for this year is improve my credit, get my real estate license (to increase my income on top of my W-2), possibly career transition into the property management space (to learn more), and save as much as possible and learn as much as I can.I’d love to house hack close to home but my area is so expensive it seems like it’d be close to impossible. 

Hey Tod, I took a very brief look at your first listing, airbnb.com/h/newport1bedroom, and the thing that jumps out at me as far as improving it is: address the 1-star review head on without attacking the reviewer.

I think KCMO is considered a landlord-friendly location.A professional property manager can significantly improve an investor's life by streamlining operations, maximizing profitability, and reducing stress.

For example, if she can't visit the property, is she good at record keeping (so everything is organized at tax time) or finding vendors, comparing product prices, finding free or low cost items on Facebook marketplace to improve the rental)3. emergency fund.

We also have a huge budget allowance from the city over the next few years to improve public transportation measures within the city.