The answer is that you don't have to go all the way a 4 hour airplane ride away where you can't see or control anything for less than the cost of an airline ticket.

Another big ticket item you left out is cap ex.

Personally, I probably would not even factor in CapEx if the property is truly turnkey; under the assumption I likely will already be in and out before the big ticket items become due on it

My husband and I anticipate a need for travel a few times a year, and so we're thinking the Alaska Airline VISA Signature card might be helpful, since it would accumulate some miles and also has the annual companion ticket. 

But they were advertising a "Big Event" and tried to pressure sell me on spending $1000 for a front row "VIP" ticket to the big event.

I know they do 30 year fixed on 1-5 but best I can get on commercial lending is 15 or 20 year with 5 year arm. 30 year fixed would be quite the golden ticket

I ordered so much lumber (For framing) from one local lumber house that not only did I get large discounts but I got free pencils (OMG) and free tickets to local NFL/MLB games, which I rarely used, I would pass these on to my Subs to further cement our relationships.

They charge $30,000 for their top program and although that is high-ticket, if it was a genuine program that worked, would be a good investment. 

Tax and insurance premium are about $5k, utility (including internet) is $9k, cleaning fee is about $7k (based on 40 stays), maintenance $2k,  wear and tear items $3k, and set aside $5k for big ticket items. 

The property / units are in good shape it’s just the BIG ticket items which don’t seem to get enough credit in the appraisal.