There are several flags here since they have been deceiving you on a couple of accounts.

. - We have about 1 million in our 401K, 403b, and other retirement accounts (95% Vanguard index funds). 

I do not personally account for deprecation when running numbers. 

(would a brokerage account be a good idea?)

Yeah if we had a re-do button perhaps we would have skipped this last purchase or done more due-diligence prior to the purchase.But very happy with our other properties.....Hi Account Closed - Where is your STR located ?

I agree with @Joe Villeneuve.Real estate investing requires a certain set of service providers (RE agent, PM, lawyer, accountant, bookkeeper, contractor, sub contractors, handyman, etc).

short term rental is more of a business, you can make more cash on cash (with more work) and get fantastic tax benefits if you work with the right accountant.

Account Closed, curious, what did you end up going with?

Resist that and give yourself some parameters and guard rails before it hits your account. 

This is also a refreshing post compared to all of the spammy posts that have popped up lately from accounts that are new and are some generic version of "what's a problem you face today?"