They love the nostalgia of it and wouldn't consider replacing such an important and historical thing.There is no script that will lead you to success in this, but friendly and collaborative will help.

A lot of the deals that I analyzed (and passed on) over the past 12-18 months had unrealistically thin margins, and I saw the same thing on some of the loans that I looked at.

What trends proved to be the most successful for you last year?

No offense, but hire a PMC because:1) You hate the process of placing tenants.2) You didn't do a very good job of screening the current ones.Sometimes we have to get out of our own way to find success!

Might be a bit biased, but Branson is a great example of a small-town market where both STRs and LTRs can be successful.

I have been a realtor for +8 years helping out-of-state investors buy and sell here successfully too.

I invest in Boise, ID and do quite a few BRRRRs, LTRs and STRs- varying degrees of success depending on how much equity we can force and the type of back end financing we can find, but the tax benefits are great and it's a rapidly growing market and Idaho is probably the most landlord friendly state in the nation. 

Borrowing against your paid off house without an income puts way too much pressure on the success of whatever deal/project you decide to pursue. 

If you can come in and operate effectively I think you'll find success rather quickly due to that.BTW - for a property management platform I would highly recommend Buildium.

No one will care more about your success then you.