Lately I've become very interested in short term vacation rentals, as it is an absolutely exploding market, all over the world, and I think there are good opportunities around to grab a piece of that cake.

I think this is a situation where you could have your cake and eat it too.

I think my main goal is cashflow and having been able to turn a consistent 25% return in the stock market over the last 3 years has made me realize that I'm really looking for at least a 7%-9% Return on my Investment (appreciation just being icing on the cake).

Cash flow (money left over) is icing on the cake.

You can do 10hours/week and you'll be done in 4 weeks, piece of cake :)  Good luck and let me know if you need add'l study materials for the national portion of the exam.

If you principal appreciation that's icing on the cake. 

@Brian Burke   the cherry on the cake on the one i am going to bull doze sometime in the distant past one of the owners dismantled a car hauled it down into the basement and put it all back together..

I view appreciation as the icing on the cake.

Piece of cake!

This analysis also excludes the appreciation gains over time which I look at purely as the icing on the cake.