I have a nearly perfect credit score and I'm gambling on that for my first project.

But when it comes to rankings, I've heard numerous people say once they mastered Airbnb and applied the same principles to VRBO their rankings came up. 

I am an agent in the Iowa City area, however, I have worked numerous times with Regen Johnson at Ruhl&Ruhl.

On the income side there are numerous things you could do to improve revenue but they are not listed.  

Of course, your opinion is just as valid as mine, and if it works for you, that's all well and good.True, you definitely do NOT want to give up a 3% loan....BUT there are numerous CREATIVE ways to build net worth FASTER than hold and reinvest cash flow.  

There are numerous tenants rights organizations in Baltimore looming for exactly this and other issues.

Overall I would treat this investment as a high risk gamble and willing to accept loss if it failed but It's also a very interesting process to understand how the industry works.

I can tell you numerous stories of CA investors that I've met at meet ups who have lost money OOS, especially Class C. 

On the other hand, I have bought numerous properties from absentee owners that paid cash for their investment property here.

(Cash flow is always a gamble.).