Hi Jacklyn, I'm a VT realtor (though I focus on northern VT), and also on the board of the VT short-term rental alliance (VTSTRA).

It shouldn't be a problem to call and while I don't know the specific rules for Hawaii (probably something like a smoke detector in or next to every bedroom and a carbon monoxide detector in the house), rules regarding smoke detectors are not going to be "grandfathered in" (a term that building departments hate btw).

I was wondering if anyone in Georgia has worked with a good agent that has extensive knowledge of the investment market for short term rentals. 

Let me know if you would like me to get you a term sheet. 

The more specific your term is the easier it will be to figure out if someone's asked it before.

The short term market fluctuates, but long term, holding real estate is very, very rarely a bad play.As a renovator myself, I always try to hold instead of sell, that is why I prefer the term renovator, not flipper.

Otherwise it is a short term cash flow play for long term asset depreciation and lots of turnover. 

In my head I'd want to buy a property cash or creative terms with a private money partner for the home and maybe a 2nd partner for the furnishing and start-up funding.

You have a larger pool of risk tolerances from different lenders (less risk = better terms, more risk = worse terms). 3.

Options are limited but I have a source that can help with permanent financing, i.e. 30 yr fixed, interest only 30 year term.