Not trying to be difficult this is a serious question?

Add the difficult exit and your investor pool is very limited. 

Total time spent throughout the year may be significant, depending on the number of properties and amount of activities, but year end is no more difficult than any other time period they're doing. 

Common advice I've received from other landlords is to avoid them because they often leak or fail and are difficult to maintain.

Ik that here in Hawaii, there’s a few laws on STRs and I’ve been trying to understand but it’s difficult to decipher.

And the only "client" reviews I've seen mention that their customer service is non responsive and difficult to get a hold of once you're purchased their services.

but end of the day lots of Black on your balance sheet simply is not a bad thing.. 

I prefer a balance between cash flow and capital appreciation.  

I stick with the main OTAs and have added GVR since I believe that one could materialize but trying to get direct bookings is also difficult.  

Cash out re-fi's are very difficult given the economy and the fact it has been an election year.