I'm mad at myself for just accepting that is a reasonable fee and not shopping around sooner. 

The tenant was a truck driver and was making 100k per year plus her credit score was 700.

I worked madly to line up all the information I needed to confidently provide non-refundable EMD.

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, most jurisdictions are very STR-friendly as tourism is a key driver of our economy, and this agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia has now solidified that even further.

What is the economic driver(s) up there?

Newer apartments and a lack of available rentals drive rents up.

Wife got a new job as Uber driver.

The plants were overgrown and some bushes blocked visibility in hazardous ways (ie; blocking the field of view when exiting, not allowing drivers to see cars incoming from the left side).

For example, before I even think about investing in a market I study the economic drivers, population growth, demographics, rental demands, and local crime (talk to the local police and investors).

This is different from metropolitan areas with unlimited expansion potential, where the construction of new homes limits the growth of rent and home prices of existing properties.DemandThe driver for housing demand is population growth.