I have had mostly great guests, but the few that I've had that were terribly messy (much of what you describe but also smearing pizza toppings on the floor, having an easter egg hunt (I found some of the eggs) with chocolate in fabric and pink maybe egg coloring staining two sets of sheets) and yet were given 5 star reviews from prior hosts.  

I’m scrapping up money to invest and this 401k just sitting there barely appreciating (I actually lost money with inflation) .Thanks 

So what I think you are is just letting the property appreciate barely or might not keep up with inflation.

These are good folks but not high on the self help category so, since the house is next door I decided to check things out before hiring a contractor.Upon inspection I noticed that the thermostat was barely above the "Vacation" setting.  

It's huge and it wipes out my cash flow to the point where I am barely CF positive.Note: I ended up not accounting for siding costs since the siding is newish and most likely I will have sold the property or have retired by the time it needs updating.

I live in CT so most things within an hour of me are 250 at the bare minimum.

That would lead to people who always go with the cheap getting the bare minimum home inspection, title work, etc. 

Since I am retired and have been able to par my normal taxable annual income down to a bare minimum it might be possible to use a small portion of the capital gains in future tax years at Zero tax rate or at least at a very desirable low rate.

It closed but barely.

The 1% is meant to represent a point where the rental is likely to just barely generate some positive cash-flow.