Hey Kevin,I am an MTR investor and co-host in North Dallas, Texas.I have not done rent by the room--- but make sure you seek out advice from the rent by the room forums.

Looks like we are all wondering if its legit or more for the novice host?

The market is a bit trickier because you need to be a good host to the residents while being a good vendor to the paying client.

it might make sense to just buy desktop and host it on the cloud .

Etc, etc.....While I have been hosting MTR stays for 5 years now, I feel like there is still so much to learn!

So if you are going to be a host that outperforms your competitors and want to get fabulous reviews, there isn’t complete down time if you are self managing at the highest level.

I also suggest you look at co-hosting instead of arbitrage.

The primary form of diligence we see on the forums is "what do you think of XYZ sponsor and deal" whereas the common form of diligence in the space by institutional investors, large investment groups, family offices, and sophisticated investors involves following the sponsor for years, underwriting the deals, validating rent comps, background checks on the general partners, and a host of other diligence that materially de-risks the investments.  

To gamble, I will go back to Venetian Casino, either “DOUBLE IT” or “LOSE IT ALL”. 

While you might lean towards long-term tenants for stability, short-term rental platforms like Airbnb can yield higher profits if the building allows it.When you get to Miami, I’d recommend visiting a few meetups hosted by South Florida REIA.