It's shedding material from impact of sun's rays, that's how elec is produced.

But if hold on them for awhile and pay them off, then your family and kids and enjoy the income they produce.

As I see it in the current market, STR is now a way to get a really good, appreciating asset to pay for itself, not a way to produce a meaningful amount of cash flow after all expenses. 

I do not have my numbers as well organized as @Greg Scott but my estimate is upper 20% annual return on average.The 3 i am currently invested in, one seems likely to produce an outstanding return (High risk, high reward), one is conservative and is performing to projections, and one i have significant concerns about but has not had a capital call.  

Craigslist wasn't pretty, but it was easy to use, and it worked (I found lots of great tenants via Craigslist) ...unfortunately, over the years, Craigslist produced fewer and fewer tenants, and more and more spam.  :( These days, nearly all my new tenants come from Facebook Marketplace.  

I would also recommend looking at cities close to Greenville, like Anderson, Easley, & Simpsonville as well since Greenville can be competitive unless you are looking at off-market deals.Also the non-occupancy tax would be based on the tax assessed value of the property and not the income it produces.

Other distractions include non income-producing activities - aka any distraction pulling you to do something other than speaking with and following up with people.How can I prepare myself?

If I'm looking to househack with my family (I had a toddler and a newborn the last time we did it) I might be interested in 1/3 of these neighborhoods, of which a few will absolutely produce some income (assuming you're number's aren't ultra-conservative) upon moving in year 2-3.

The automobile existed for decades before Henry Ford produced the Model T.

I then look at area vacancies, economic conditions, employment opportunities, area demographics and verify that the property has not been red tagged or have any other underlying problems that might make it difficult to resell or rent.When I have my financial information then I can consider debt service and costs related to equity partners in the overall income produced.