--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. 

So far mostly people are telling me I'm probably stuck until their lease is over. meanwhile I also need to pay down my debt and improve credit score. 

This would improve the property value and also allow you to lease out the 5th unit.

While it's positive after expenses and has potential for improvement in year two, it’s been a bigger hassle than anticipated and taking attention from other priorities and areas of our life with not enough return. 

I agree that it would certainly would be a huge improvement to get the facts before pontificating uninformed ignorant opinions.

Since 2020 we've seen large asset value increases and large tax increases, and more modest insurance increases but we've been able to improve our profit margins sufficiently to keep up with inflation and even do a little better in many cases.

.- After closing, you can do some of the work yourself to save money, but the program doesn't allow you to pay yourself.You will want to buy a Class B property, maybe Class C+, in an area that seems to be improving.

That will likely be one of the side effects of improving your property and should be accounted for in your analysis.

Basic staging with an agent usually means they give you insight into how you should:Declutter and depersonalize by removing photos and personal itemsArrange your furniture to improve the room’s flow and make it feel biggerAdd plants, move art, or re-arrange other accessoriesFull-service staging is another option if your house needs more hands-on attention.

I would use the income to slowly improve the house and once you get it to a good spot, HELOC out some money for a down payment on another place rinse and repeat.