And we are just getting ready to pass the septic licensing test which will help us save 6k to 7k per cabin by doing our own septic. 

You can test out mid term or short term rentals on one or a few of the units to offset that, or you can accept that you're drastically lowering your living expenses and building equity. 

We have been long term owners for many years and have recently decided to make the move to medium term on 1/2 of our duplex to test the market.

@Ashley RuddCongrats on passing the test and getting licensed!

Hey Justin, You sound like a prime candidate to take advantage of section 121121 qualifiers Must live in the home in the past 2 of the 5 years 24 months non consecutive required Must have owned the home for at least 2 years Only one spouse needs to meet the ownership testBoth spouses need to meet the use test Neither spouse has excluded a gain / used section 121 in the past two years Must file jointly for the 500k exclusion

This works because, for short-term rentals, the IRS rules allow income to be treated as non-passive if certain conditions are met, such as offering substantial services and meeting material participation tests.

Maybe Vrbo is doing more a/b testing.

It's where I cut my teeth and tested all my knowledge and skills set.

Does the request pass the sniff test? 

Yes you can you need to pass both tests. 7 days or less and the material participation test which I have outlined above