Hey @Abigail King - I'm quite a bit further north here in Chicago, but my friend @Brad Stegall hosts a great meetup in Perioa - consider connecting with him and attending the event.Are you looking to buy & hold or fix & flip?

I'm on Airbnb and Vrbo, and also Houfy (direct bookings) but have stayed away from Booking .com because of the horror stories from fellow hosts.

S8 rent is much higher than the regular rent and helps cash flow a lot on numbers.

I enjoy the guaranteed rent and higher rents than most regular properties with a "normal" tenant.

I also find that depending on the tenant, my one Airbnb property has less wear and tear because it's constantly cleaned and maintained versus my other rentals where the families living there settle in and accumulate stuff - which makes it hard to deep clean regularly (to my liking) as well as just the constant daily wear and tear from kids etc. 

Nothing is truly "passive" and a big misconception with new folks wanting to enter the real estate arena.For example, just bought a 6 unit using leverage and trying to secure a loan was a disaster of a process.I can only imagine what others have to go through on every time they purchase a property using leverage.But then again, I'm bias to the "cash only" approach.The constantly changing conditions, terms, keeping tight bookkeeping records and tax returns in order and regularly manipulating the BS credit score algorithm.Placing good tenants is more a skill then hope.It took me 10+ years to fully wrap my head around using leverage the right way and being able to "manipulate" the system to get better rates with a quicker turn around.Keep being great thanks for your reading and replying to my comments 🙏

I am house hacking my unit and is there any difference in those processes as opposed to a regular rental property?

Qualify the contractor and highlight the benefits of working together which would include consistent work for them and regular paycheck.Personally, I'd buy the materials and never pay any money upfront, a "red flag" on its own.

I've read a lot of posts in the forum here on the pros and cons of this strategy... what I would love is some insights from actual PadSplit hosts on the assumptions/operating expenses to take into account when evaluating a property.

I have regular drip but am buying Ks so they have both options.