#'s wise it's your up front expenses: rent, furniture, decor, etc plus your ongoing maintenance and cleaning expenses.

Hosts who try to do this poorly with second hand furniture or Facebook marketplace decor (with very few exceptions) usually struggle and now not only is your property under water, you've also sunk more money into furnishings.

I hear that’s a safer bet than doing a home mortgage equity line.Question is should I ride it out and move into my already paid off condo when my tenant’s lease is up in Dec or strive to go forward and invest in a new property, live there a bit, then find another tenant and  replicate once I’ve saved for another down payment?

There is also a sizable upfront investment in furniture and decor to launch the business.

The forum is the next layer- like decorations on a cake. 

On an older home like this, I would probably refinish them and cover the holes with some decorative grates.

I rent my 23 STRs to contractors.  2 guys can pay $400/week and share a motel room.  2, 3 or 4 guys can pay $400, $600 or $800 a week and share a 2, 3 or 4 bedroom house with a kitchen, washer/dryer, cable/wifi that is decorated like Hugh Hefner's Mansion. 

Running a successful STR comes down to 3 Ps: pics, people & pricing.1) Decorate your house nicely & pay a professional photographer to take some amazing picsAlso, be prepared to constantly reinvest some of your profits into your house in order to keep it in tiptop shape.

For your $550 cash out of pocket, you could buy two 8 bedroom, fully furnished and themed homes with bookings already in place in Windsor Island and still have a ton of money left over to go bigger on the decor if you wanted. 

You may be able to save on the purchase price if you find a home in need of decorating.