I also hold a couple of real estate forums in the area for people like yourselves to connect with service providers, GC's, etc. 

Some people just are NOT cut out to be landlords.

How many people do this?

Hugely popular area.Our cabin is doing good, hopefully the calendar will fill in more throughout the year.Although lots of people visit the area there is a lot of competition. 

NC is a great market for your goals, however it will be challenging to find inventory that has much cash flow; many people who toss money into multifamily here do it to avoid the tax bill + take the 10 year runway of growth.How much SHF RE do you currently have?

People staying for 30-90 days are a completely different customers than someone in a years lease. 

And my final dream is to buy land in my home country to build affordable housing for people there.

You have to disclose you are an agent and people statistically don't like or trust agents.  

I think when you start you need to make sure you work with people who are reliable.

What are the biggest challenges people have faced with this.