This was our first exposure to real estate and ultimatley what got us interested in future buy and hold rentals.

And by evolving into Out-State holding's, now your reducing risk exposure from diversification of market deployment. 

You aren't avoiding or minimizing your exposure using a 1031 Exchange. 

If you, as a seller really want top dollar, you need to hire an agent to assure it's listed on the MLS for the most exposure as possible to ensure that you are given the best chance for highest and best offers. 

My exposure and knowledge of leverage is very limited.

For pros/cons of booking.com I would say the following...Pros:-if you use guesty you can sync your airbnb info into your booking.com listing info to ease the set up process-there are more options to check off in the amenities portion of the listing set up, so you can really display the uniqueness of your property-I would wager 90% of self-managing str hosts only list on up to VRBO/Airbnb, which means there are not nearly as many options for people to choose between, which means more exposure for your listing-rumor has it that booking.com just invested a large sum of money into building out their services to provide more vacation home listings rather than hotels.

I was approved for a large exposure limit line of credit.

If you can wait to list in the spring or early summer, I recommend doing so to enhance your buyer exposure.

If on the other hand, you are buying assets cash unlevered, then it could make perfect sense to buy for appreciation over the short or long term without exposure to adverse market conditions.

I like to give my units as much exposure as possible.