I hope it's useful.BTW, for me it was down to KW or the Bean Group (a regional player with 30-something offices. 

We could be an anomaly but there are several STRs in my neighborhood and I hear the same from the owners (currently the majority of bookings are coming from Airbnb).

I don’t think it’s a scam but I wouldn’t be comfortable with dealing with anyone who asks me to go through videos of the property and videos of shows to may be increase view count of the show and properties on Youtube or wherever.Even a smallest turnkey provider would be able to share tax numbers and may be an excel with numbers.

It can definitely be an invaluable learning experience and wealth building tool. 

The lower property is covered in coffee and has a newly built ~800 sqft shop / deck.

If you have a partner willing to sign with you (through an LLC or not) that could be an option.

We're looking to get started using land contracts vs. owner financing properties and I'd like to know what steps we'd need to go through for the eviction...or or a judge would determine the land contract to be an "installment sales".

Attend a Meetup in your area or meet someone local and grab a coffee or a beer.5.

Attend a Meetup in your area or meet someone local and grab a coffee or a beer.5.

But instead of getting steered in a direction of right/left per your example, I'm told "you shouldn't be messing with concepts you don't understand" and "it's not simple, go get some advice from a real tax pro" who in all likelihood will just be an accountant who files taxes for a living and has no real experience with these concepts and will tell me it's not worth it, like Mike did.