I was able to do all of that because I learned how to write sales copy, SEO, optimize YouTube, podcast -> Generate leads -> then drive to phone sales.

Airbnb for Dummies, Optimize your BNB.

It may cause a slight interruption in the short term, but in the long term you'd have your leasing protocols optimized and in your best interest. 

But, if I'm required to put that money down upfront, I could be tying up $5-10K at a time on several properties for several months -- this is sub-optimal for obvious reasons.

Our society pumps out people who think an optimal time for dollars trade is the path to wealth in an effort to achieve "stability" and "safety."

I am scheduled to have the website completely re-designed my end of March.Here to your questions1) I am in a small community, I only get about 40 unique visitor per day2) I have 2 sites, one main one which I optimize for and one to experiment with3)I had my blog on a subdomain first, that is not the way to go.

If your dad's parcel sizes are smaller than typically they are of no interest to the national chains unless an adjacent parcel can be bought increasing the size they need for optimal site layout.While another gas station might not go there another type of retail asset might like a bank etc.

I get ~20 letters/month asking for cash though :-)Mike - I like your optimism so while I try other ideas I'll also get it listed.

The extra bedroom would easily net me another $3600 / year, so I'm thinking about doing it anyways & optimizing the rents.

This doesn't mean you have to chose to only invest in your current market, but rather gives you more ways to optimize your portfolio, take advantage of favorable lending terms due to buying a primary home, and put a much smaller % down than if buying an investment property.