--reach out and thank them upon getting the booking and ask if they have any questions--send a "Welcome" email or automated message during the week prior to arrival--reach out the day after arrival to ask how everything was the first night and ask if there is anything that the property needs--reach out at the end of the stay (that morning or within 24 hours) and ask how everything was, anything to improve, anything to add to the house and then offer an incentive for returning guests.My 2 cents,Mike Absolutely stay in your place as Mike said.You will see things the cleaners will never let you know about.We stayed in our PF will putting up the Christmas decorations and found a cracked plastic shelf in the fridge. 

Nightly rates: Yes, but the benchmarks should also be lower.Year 2 turnaround: What strategies could we implement to project a higher ROI in our second year?

As referenced above by others, if you're entirely new to REI, one of the best strategies you can explore and implement is house hacking.

Being proactive ensures you’re always a step ahead, minimizing risks and keeping your business running smoothly.Example: Imagine you implement an outdated tenant screening policy that inadvertently violates a new anti-discrimination law.

I will talk to the tech team to see what the cost to implement a solution like this on new arrivals could look like.

It will give you one stop calendar management and automated messaging which is a huge time saver. 

My thought is that the people that ARE using it for lead gen/outreach, automation etc. will keep the methods to themselves until the advantage of early adoption is done and that business segment is saturated, then they will sell courses to everybody else..

You learn what you can as quickly as possible, and start implementing.

The answer to this will come down to comfort level, funds available, and strategy you are looking to implement. 

Would love to connect and be a resource to you anyway that I can - I'm a realtor, and investor in the area and have some tips & tricks you can implement into your business and see if it helps!