Curious about the success others are having with these platforms or if anyone thinks Booking.com is becoming a necessary tool for securing STR reservations?

Can run thousands.And while this isn't an "out of pocket" typically you will need some personal liquidity and net worth to secure loans.  

After a month of renovations, I listed it on the market on November 19th and secured a tenant with a lease starting on December 10th.

Instead we recommend all our clients to secure their properties as they see fit.

Now they have exchanges, which are still not as secure as they are advertised to be by the operators. 

Permitting also secures compliance and avoids fines, which can be significant in LA.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

I negotiated the FSBO and was able to even secure a commission.

May be expensive but they are dedicated to private lender law, securities law and creditors' rights.

I engaged my webmaster - SEO expert to handle it and she contacted Mailchimp and was able to secure a new account for us, with her listed as having the final authority to authorize a mailing.  24 mailing later never another problem.   

Quick context: I placed a tenant in one of my units after thorough background checks and collected security deposit + first month's prorated rent via Baselane (bad move!).