In my area (near the beach) its mostly families and they want cabanas, baby items, chairs, coolers etc that we do not provide but I have a local vendor that delivers and picks up these items and charges a few dollars per day for each item, and give me a 20% referral. 

I like using these for just this case.Another item to consider is since this is a 2nd floor I wouldn't be that worried since the 1st floor will heat the 2nd floor enough to not allow frozen pipes.I would also talk to an HVAC person because I believe they can also put a device to cycle the heat a few times a day or even put a secondary thermostat in the apt to take care of the minimum issues.I feel for you because otherwise you have a great tenant.

A savings to put deposits and another account for everything elseyou don't need separate bank accounts as accounting software will classify all of those items.

When an owner replaces or retires certain items (e.g., lighting, HVAC, or carpeting), they can claim a deduction for the remaining undepreciated value of those items.

>I have heard wholesaling is tough but despite having less volume it has larger spreads in San DiegoI have never wholesaled but I suspect you have both items correct. 

Garbage disposals are my most often replaced items. 

Do my guests really need a (insert item for the home here)?

Ironically the invested capital is often very similar for either. because your either investing capital in # of locations to scale, or investing capital in higher quality ie higher cost assets and operational items. 

So, in reality every month your moving close and closer to sucking out months/years of profits via items aging out, cap-x coming to bear. 

If this is a big-ticket item, you might consider legal action against Airbnb.