And the reality was I only put 20% down plus closing costs.

At this time I manage and renovate majority of all my units to keep cost low but most likely not the best use of my time although I'm skilled at it.

Our goal is to be able to use either some type of software or spreadsheets to continue to build off of and help dial in our costs as we begin to hire more contractors for our team.

Short term rentals do get more money, but also cost more to run and require more time.  

The carrying costs are low, but tenant was making partial payments by month 2.

They are about the same cost (which surprised me) but for a rental property that is really probably mostly for pets, I'm concerned about maintenance and upkeep.

If not and you wrote them the check, then most likely the $ is gone and suing for that money will cost you more than $1000 unfortunately.So cancel the agreement and request the funds

I agree with Collin.The Smokies do have a lot of competition, so you need to have a view, decent location, good to great amenities etc to stand out.We have a 6-bedroom cabin there, but I imagine a 3 to 4 bedroom would be in the sweet spot of not too big or not too small.

If you don't, it can cost you everything!

We almost went with a loan that we have to pay all the cost upfront and then get reimbursed on the back end and that was just not something we were willing to do.