This agreement with your general contractor acts as a roadmap, with clear expectations and protection for all parties involved.One frequent mistake is the failure to include sufficient detail or being too vague.

This may be needed to protect you from claims later.4.

There's no way to guarantee things won't break, there are only ways to protect yourself financially so you can replace those items.

@Ryan Daniel  I will preface this with the fact that I have a legal background, specifically with estate planning and asset protection in relation to real estate investments.

Having a mortgage and your normal STR insurance is already 2 levels of protection. 

I think they contain solid information and will help lay a good foundation as a beginner (Haha, I'm completely new to real estate as well, btw)I'm also going to be reading the following books, and hopefully I can finish all by the end of this month:1) The ABCs of Property Management2) The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing3) Long-Distance Real Estate Investing How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties (this might be the most important one to me personally)4) The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money DownIn addition to reading, I'm consuming crazy amounts of youtube videos, and I'recommend you do this as well.

This creates an initial negative equity position that consumes the initial cash flow, sometimes for many years.

@Cristal Ochoa @Leiah DotlichI will preface this with the fact that I have a legal background, specifically with estate planning and asset protection.

Houfy now has a damage protection plan that costs the guests $5 a night and does light identity screening through SuperHog. 

Whether they have personal property protection, and how much, should be left up them.