I found a property in Cleveland that has technically 2 units.

Then you have to coordinate with different people with little to no professional background or even background checks.

So, technically I do not believe we are saturated “overall” in the Smokys but we have gone back to 2019 numbers, where a basic old style cabin 2 bedroom with a slight view does 40-60k per year gross.  

Compared that with RE where your rent/cash flow only increase in time(technically into perpetuity) along with appreciation, leveraging(velocity of money), tax benefits, mortgage paydown etc. 

I prefer to operate on stretch goals, my background is in tech startup sales so I love to hustle and I'd rather fail at getting to 500k and get to 350K, than shoot for $300k and work less smart/efficiently or only get to $250k.

Our experience in renovating and selling homes, coupled with our individual professional backgrounds, gives us confidence in our ability to succeed in this new endeavor.

How much background knowledge do you have about STRs and why the Houston market?

Quote from @Zachary Deal: may be worth just handling all bookings through Airbnb or VRBO to add some level of protectionIf booking outside these platforms, we use KeyCheck to run background and credit checks on tenants, but we may switch to Rent Redi as they collect the tenant's photo ID for you as well. 

Background: STR owner/operator and insurance broker. 

This was a huge accomplishment for me coming from a difficult financial Background.