Get your insurance in business name, utilities can be put in business name.

Since part of your home is a rental, you can deduct a portion of expenses like mortgage interest, property taxes, and utilities.

The way I understand it is if you were to say, have a fire (even while vacant), and put a claim in with your insurer and they find out you have been utilizing the property as an STR they will deny the claim. 

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Most successful STR owners I work with in the Pocono's/Lake Wallenpaupack PA utilize only someone to clean, and a few local handymen.

Also--similar to apps like Facebook and Twitter--I can almost guarantee that a larger pool of people would seamlessly utilize their phones to vote/like and comment on the forums. 

That gives you time to get organized and established for more conventional financing. 

Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save.

Long story short, you spend a month cleaning and renovating, then you find a new tenant after just 15 days.In total, you lost three months of rent income ($3,000) plus paying utilities ($500).

@Paul Lucenti  "I don’t believe there can be a bad asset - if something is lining your pocket and you are establishing equity, that really cannot be bad.