For example, if you live onsite. 

Trying to get a split level (not a lot of sqft) on the market in the next three weeks and trying to decide on whether to open the wall between the dining and living room for a feel of openness or leave it as I have heard from two interior designers that the open concept is on the way out as we are more at home and liking our separate areas in the home.Pragmatically speaking the opening of the wall will be mostly a time drain with it being a load bearing wall and having to support the ceiling while rebuilding and all the drywalling necessary.

Just to present an alternative point of view regarding California residents investing in STRs, I'd say the gambit still works and works well.For one thing, you still get to use the Section 263(a) tangible property regulations' de minimis rules, which probably mean you can immediately expense most of the furniture and fixtures in your STR.For another thing, while for your California return you won't be able to use bonus or accelerated depreciation for the personal property, you will still use shorter 5-year and 7-year lives for maybe 25% of the improvements.But the big thing: The federal tax bill is far, far bigger.

Buy where you intend to live, where you know the areas best.

Unfortunately, over the 11 months he has lived there, he has only managed to pay the rent on time once.

They have already called a real estate agent to list on the MLS and when the agent comes over to take the listing, they tell the prospective seller that the dog poop in the living room has got to go.The rot in the bathroom behind the toilet needs to be fixed.

@Holly Radice so I own in Barnum but do not do any STR as I don't live in the area.

The past tenant was a hoarder and the apartment has not been lived in or touched since 1999 (26 years)! 

I live in Matthews just a little south of Charlotte 

In the area I lived the properties were too expensive (Watsonville CA) so I began doing farther searches out of my area.